HiH RPG Fanfiction
by hinatamayonaka
Summary: A collection of stories dedicated to my beloved companions in the HiH RPG group!
1. Jude's Experiment 1: Chapter 1

Jude's Experiment #1: Emotional Suppresser and Chemical Balancer

**A/N: This is an HiH RPG turned into a 'fan's-fanfiction'!**

This is dedicated to my lovely companions, with whom I cherish spending time with in our RoR kingdom~

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CHAPTER 1: NEGOTIATIONS

After the dramatic and traumatic events of the previous day, Dorrea Jude was ready to put it all behind her and move on with her first experimental potion. The first year Slytherin had been waiting all week for the potion to finish brewing, so she was eager to get the test underway. The previous night she had made a deal with her fellow snake Hannah Sofie to assist her in the experiment, on the agreement that she give the younger snake a "make-over". It was to be an exciting day, but hopefully not as traumatic as the previous night.

Making some last minute adjustments to the potion, Dorrea filled a single glass vial with the contents of the elixir. Putting it in her robe pocket, she set off to locate her assistant. "_She is probably still in our kingdom inhaling drinks…"_ Dorrea thought to herself in an exasperated tone; the kingdom referring to her and her companion's regular "hang-out" place in the Room of Requirement, of which she was the self-proclaimed monarch of said kingdom.

As expected, her fellow snake was in the RoR kingdom obviously dealing with a hangover from her depression-induced alcohol binge.

"You recall our deal from yesterday, yes?" Dorrea asked with an eyebrow raised, Hannah nodded. "Are you coherent enough to comply with our arrangement?" Doubting the sobriety of her friend.

"I'm fine, fine." The older snake waved off dismissively

The younger pureblood heiress put a hand on her hip and gave a doubtful sigh. "About our arrangement, further specifications of our deal need to be made." She crossed her arms and her posture resembled some trained business woman, 30 years older than what she was.

With her own eyebrow raised, Hannah gestured for Dorrea to go ahead.

"First, you will be required to take extensive notes from when I first take the potion till approximately one hour after the end of the estimated time the potion will wear off in order to record any side effects." The young wavy haired Slytherin counted off her many stipulations on her fingers. "Secondly, the notes must be detailed. Thirdly, the notes must be legible. Four-"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Can I at least draw one boob in the margins?" Hannah interrupted.

Dorrea narrowed her eyes and snapped, "No, you can't. And don't interrupt." The older snake gave a placating look with her hands raised in defense. "Now where was I? Ah, yes, number four, you are required to only take notes of a clinical nature in the designated notebook."

Hannah gave a bored look. "And that is supposed to mean…?"

"Well, if there are any side effects of an.. undesirable nature, you are limited to the notebook. No additional evidence of any unusual behavior is allowed to be taken." Dorrea gave her a warning look.

"So if you get down on all fours and crawl around like a dog, I can't take pictures?"

The pureblood heiress coughed awkwardly. "Something like that. Anyway, the last stipulation is that in case side effects occur you must keep me in this room. Do not let me walk around the rest of the castle."

With an eyebrow raise the older snake asked, "What kind of side effects are you expecting?"

"Well, since I am the creator of this potion, I doubt the side effects will occur at all," she gave a smug look. "However… there are three possibilities that could potentially occur. The first being the suppressed emotional and chemical backlash could knock me unconscious temporarily. Second, the backlash could overwhelm my body and mind putting me in a coma for a few days. And finally, my body and mind would try to make up for the time it was suppressed by doubling my emotions and responses." Dorrea stated in a lecturing tone of voice, similar to their History of Magic professor's stern but dull voice.

"Alright, got it. Now for my requirements." Hannah smiled mischievously, obviously looking forward to dressing Dorrea up in Merlin knows what. "Clothes, make-up, hair, the whole works. Plus you have to eat lunch and dinner in the Great Hall with us, no hiding in here, and every time someone asks you about the clothes you have to say "This is who I am!" She grinned widely.

Sputtering, Dorrea pouted angrily. "What? Our deal is completely unbalanced. I require renegotiation. I get to stay in here and no ridiculous phrase."

"You have to eat with us, but no phrase."

"Agreed if I get some say in the clothes."

The two snakes stared each other down as the negotiation of the century took place in Hogwarts' Room of Requirement.

"Deal." They both agreed. Dorrea stuck her hand out for a handshake, only to receive a high-five slap from Hannah. "Good enough I suppose…" The younger snake muttered to herself.

Pulling the experimental potion vial out of her robe pockets, she took the top off and looked to her temporary assistant. Hannah took out a muggle-looking notebook and a quill, an odd combination.

"Right then, it is," Dorrea looked at her watch, "around ten in the morning, in an hour the effects should wear off."

Hannah nodded and got ready to take notes.

"Alright…" She took a deep breath and hesitated momentarily. "Here goes nothing." Dorrea downed it all in one gulp, scrunching her face up at the awful taste.

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A/N: Next chapter is on the way!


	2. Chapter 2: THE FIRST HOUR

CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST HOUR

_**10:00 AM - Jude needs a new skirt. Jude opens bottle. Jude drinks potion.**_

"How do you feel?" Hannah raised an inquiring eyebrow.

The first year blinked slowly, her eyes had a glazed over look to them. "Not much of anything." She replied in a flat tone of voice with a blank look on her face.

_**10:02 AM - She says she doesn't feel anything. I guess the potion tasted ass. She looks kind of robotic. This will be fuuuuun…" **_

Dorrea tilted her head to the side as Hannah inquired, "Nothing different? Or-"

"Your hair is rather unruly, did you know that?" Dorrea interrupted seriously with her same blank expression.

_**10:04 AM - She stated the obvious. My hair is sexy, unruly, messy and better than hers. No, that was a joke. But she did say it was unruly. No expression on her face.**_

"But the color of your unruly hair brings out your eyes." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I know that. Anything else?"

"Black is a good color." Dorrea nodded in agreement with herself. Hannah sighed and continued taking notes.

_**10:06 AM - She has failed to see that my hair is actually a very dark shade of brown, it just looks black.**_

Distractedly looking around the room after examining Hannah, her shoulders slumped in a bored fashion.

_**10:10 AM - She still looks bored. 50 more minutes with this. Should I get some snacks? I'm thinking chips and dip…**_

Dorrea's gaze landed on the colorful bottles on the bar in the Room of Requirement. "Hm." She hummed in mild interest and walked over towards the bar.

"You want a drink? Not sure you would enjoy it." The older snake followed her young companion across the room.

"_Want_ a drink? I'm not sure. _Enjoy_? Not sure either." The potion apparently suppressed the emotions that indicated her wants and desires. Giving Hannah a blank look she asked, "Should I drink it?"

With a smirk, Hannah suggested, "Let's start with something I think you would like. Baileys. You're still a firstie, so no more than one small glass."

"Okay." The 'firstie' replied without any hesitation, her voice flat and tone-less.

_**10:13 AM - I am not giving her alcohol. No, nope. That's her decision alone.**_

The older snake filled up a tiny glass and handed it to her younger companion. "Here."

Dorrea took the glass and immediately downed it all in one gulp, coughing and wheezing between words she asked, "What- do I- do now?"

_**10:15 AM - Baileys had no effect other than coughing and her questioning her intelligence.**_

As her coughing stopped, she pointed to Hannah's uniform shirt with blank expression. "Hannah. Did you know that your shirt is the wrong size?" Her voice remaining monotone as she pointed out the obvious.

"Yes, I know. But bigger shirts are a lot more comfy."

Dorrea frowned and look down at her own clothes with a flat look.

"Any opinions on your own clothes?" Clearly amused that the younger snake seemed to be inquiring her about fashion advice, Hannah tilted her head to the side and tried to suppress a grin.

"Opinions? No. Not in particular, Should I?" The emotional suppressor once again blocking Dorrea's ability to identify what her likes and dislike were.

The older snake shrugged and said in a bored tone of voice, "Well, no. But since we are on the topic of clothes…"

_**10:20 AM - Blah blah clothes, blah blah shirts. Proper girl talk. I still want chips and dips.**_

As Hannah continued to rant about clothes and what not, Dorrea was alternating between staring at her own hands and the hands of her older companion.

"Sooooo. Want snac-?"

Dorrea hopped down from her stool at the bar and grabbed Hannah's hand with her own, stopping Hannah's inquiry about snacks. The older snake's eye widened and she gaped. Dorrea just blinked inderferently.

"Uhm. Hands. Okay?"

"Hm. Different than yesterday. Hm. Yes. I think it is different." Dorrea tilted her head to the side, the glazed look in her eyes still present. "Is it different?" She looked up at Hannah as she thought about how she grabbed Hannah's hand when Zack was in the hospital wing yesterday.

_**10:28 AM - She grabbed my hand. Weird. And she thinks its different. Okay, so this potion had an effect. She is different. I still want chips and dip. Now I want cake too. Maybe she wants cake. I will ask.**_

"Sure, you're different. Do you want cake?" Hannah quickly changed the subject, not wanting to deal with _those_ emotions left over from yesterday.

Her younger companion nodded with a glazed look on her face. "Do I? Okay then." She agreed in a monotone.

_**10:31 AM - Jude likes cake. Lovely.**_

The Room of Requirement provided them with a cake that was transferred from the Hogwarts kitchen, their kingdom was amazingly convenient. They both returned to the bar, taking their seats with Dorrea on the left and Hannah on the right; the younger snake still gripping her older companion's left hand with her right.

"So. Monotone-you with potion likes hands?" Hannah inquired and she looked around for a fork.

"Like? I'm not sure? It is different." Dorrea nodded in agreement to herself, acknowledging that it was 'different' was as close as she could get to identifying the situation without her emotions.

"Hmm. Let's eat."

Dorrea went to pick up a fork with her right hand, but it was occupied with Hannah's left hand. Frowning, Dorrea tried to pick up a fork with her left hand instead.

Laughing, Hannah said, "You can let go anytime you want, Jude."

Looking up at Hannah and blinking, Dorrea hesitantly asked, "I can? Alright then." Letting go of Hannah's hand, she picked up a fork in her right hand and looked for a knife to cut the cake with.

_**10:38 AM - Now she finally let go of my hand. Now I can eat. She's adorable. And cake with Jude? That's a new experience. Oh well. This was more fun that I expected it to be.**_

Hannah cut them both a piece of cake, putting them on a couple of plates. Taking her own plate, she leaned back on her bar stool and went over the past half an hour's notes. "So. It's been almost forty minutes. What's your take on this?" She asked Dorrea in between bites of her cake.

"Take on this? The cake? I'm not sure. It is a cake, isn't it?" Dorrea stated it as if it explained everything.

Laughing and rolling her eyes, Hannah chuckled, "I meant, what's this been like for you? I'm assuming you don't feel much, but you must have had some thoughts at least?"

"Oh. I see. Hm." She took a bite of the cake as she hummed in thought. "Indeed, there isn't much feeling presently. However, I do wonder to what extent the suppression effects act." Poking at her cake as Hannah hummed, gesturing for Dorrea to continue. "Emotions are commonly thought of as reactions to situations, and in some forms they are. They determine how you should act in a situation, whether that is an involuntary response or a train reaction." She says in a monotone, lecturing tone.

Nodding, Hannah agreed. "I see. I know very little about that. Let's eat and be happy." She shrugged and returned to her cake.

Dorrea stared at her companion's face, as if trying to solve a puzzle. "Are you on a daily potion then?"

"Nope!" Hannah threw back her head with a laugh. Humming in thought, Dorrea retained her blank look while returning to her cake.

_**10:46 AM - She can have a normal conversation. She's had some thoughts, though, not connected with emotions. Well, duh, she's had a potion. Anyway, we're eating now. It is nice, I guess.**_

The Room of Requirement's door opened to reveal their Ravenclaw companion by the name of Deanna "Dee" Angelica.

"Hey Hannah, How's the experiment going?" She greeted her fellow teenage witch with a wave. Dee had heard about the experiment through their group's grapevine, it is hard to keep anything secret in such a tight knit group.

Looking up from her cake and giving a wave to her friend, she showed her the notes while asking Dorrea, "Any particular reason why you wanted to do this?"

"_Want_? I'm not sure. Statistically emotions and chemical imbalances aren't good, right?" Dorrea said in a flat tone, ignoring the new addition to their kingdom.

"Well, they can be messy for sure. But they are just, there." Hannah shrugged, Dee continued to read through Hannah's notes.

Raising an eyebrow at one of the entries, she asked, "Alcohol and cake? Really?" She grinned as she gave a disbelieving look.

"Well, she wanted it." Hannah took another bite of her cake innocently.

"I'm pretty sure the cake was all you." Dee chuckled in response, taking Hannah's fork and stealing a bit of her cake.

Dorrea poked at her cake. "Emotions are messy indeed. You know, messes are statistically negative things. Things to be removed. Things to be cleaned up." She nodded in agreement with herself.

"Want to elaborate on the feelings you had?" She asked, snatching her fork back from her friend and eating another mouthful of cake.

Gazing around in a distracted fashion, Dorrea replied, "_Want_ to? I'm not sure." She stared at Hannah, with that 'trying to solve a puzzle' look on her face.

_**10:50 AM - Dee's here. She stole cake, but I don't particularly care. Jude looks bored, and it seems she started this whole thing because she wanted to get rid of some feely feels. Hmmm. Can't blame her.**_

"Hannah," Dorrea suddenly asked, "if you don't take a daily potion, how do you not know these things already?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Hmmmmm, I don't know. Some people are just like that I guess."

Kicking the air from atop her bar stool, Dorrea pouted and with a huff jumped down from the stool and began to pace back and forth. "Maybe I should research a chemical balancing potion? Or perhaps a anti-skin fluctuation disease potion?" Nodding in agreement with herself, she made a mental note.

_**10: 56 AM - 4 minutes left. I still want chips and dips.**_

Leaning her elbow on the bar, with her cheek in her palm, Dee asked, "Hmm, what's after this stage Hannah?"

Humming in thought, Hannah replied, " She mentioned some side effects? Let's wait and see." Watching Dorrea as the girl paced back and forth, muttering under her breath things such as,

"Maybe sociopathic tendency invoking potions next…Hmm.."

"Socio-what? Judes, honey, the effects will wear off soon. Maybe you should sit down and eat." Hannah cut herself another piece of cake.

Stopping in the middle of her pacing, she stared at Hannah. "Hm. Sitting. Alright." The youngest snake walked back to her chair.

_**10:58 and a half AM - Done soon. She's staring at me again. I know I am hot, but really.**_

Glancing down at Hannah's notes, Dee laughed.

As Dorrea walked back to her chair, she rubbed her forehead and winced from some sort of headache-like pain. Stopping and rubbing her squinted eyes in pain she breathed, "Ow, ow, ow…"

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A/N: Here we get to see the 'motherly' side of Hannah, NOT. D"X hahaha


	3. Chapter 3: THE SECOND HOUR

CHAPTER 3: THE SECOND HOUR

_**11:00 AM - She said OW. How interesting.**_

Hannah tilted her head to the side, observing the younger snake hunched down on the ground with her forehead resting on the tops of her knees as she muttered painful sounds. "Dee," she turns to her friend, "She made me promise we wouldn't let her out if she got side effects. So no matter what we have to keep her in here. Oh boy-"

"Don't talk so loudddd." Dorrea moaned in pain, sounding absolutely miserable.

"Well this should be fun…" Deanna muttered to herself.

"Hey," Hannah pointed to herself, "_I'm_ the one with the hangover!"

Dorrea raised her head to glare at the older girl, as she did, she revealed her lower face covered in blood from a painful nosebleed. Dorrea rubbed her forehead in pain, "Ow…."

Hannah spotted the nosebleed and grimaced slightly, "Ok, ew. Dee, get some tissues or something we can stuff in her nose to stop the bleeding…"

_**11:03 AM - Nosebleed. Not pretty.**_

"Bleeding? Bleeding?!" Dorrea jumped up in a panic. "Salazar, do something! I'm dying over here!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Sit down!" Hannah jumps up from her seat, trying to calm her down. She heard Dee behind her say something like, "Holy crap!"

The little snake fidgeted nervously and paced around the room, wringing her hands together. "Why aren't you doing anything?! I am dying!" She cried indignantly.

Sensing her distress, Deanna handed her some tissues to wipe her face off with. Dorrea took them and tried to clean her face off in a panicked freenzy, the sight of blood on the tissues seeming to freak her out even more.

"Merlin. I am going to die. My life has been so short-"

"You're not dying-"

"This is the end, isn't it-"

"Nosebleeds happen all the time-"

"My life is really ending-"

"It's okay, just plug up your nose-"

"I can't believe I am dying!" Dorrea hunched over on the ground and started crying.

_**11:06 AM - Side effect: Slightly overreacting. Nosebleed. Dee and I are trying to help.**_

The first year ignored the other two people in the room as she continued to wail random things about the world ending and how her life was over. All of a sudden, she jumped up in a panic and ran towards the exit. "I've got to go to the hospital wing! Someone call in all of the St. Mungo's healers!"

_**11:10 AM - Possible side effect: A big ball of emotions. Oh boy, am I glad I'm not in her shoes right now. I guess I feel sorry for her. She panicking and saying her life has been so short, that she's dying, the end and so on. I hope this will wear off soon. I don't know how to comfort people. Should I get ice crea-**_

Jumping up from her note taking she ran over and blocked the Room of Requirement's exit. "Nooooope!"

"What are you doing?! I am dying! I need to go to St. Mungos! Call in the Minister of Magic!" Dorrea wailed hysterically.

Hannah grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Pull yourself together!" As Dorrea froze, Hannah tried to pull off a serious face and voice, saying, "This is a side effect."

"Side effect?" The younger snake gave a confused look. "So…. I'm not dying?"

Sighing heavily and letting go of her tiny shoulders, Hannah replied, " The potion remember? The get-rid-of-feels thing you took? So, no, you're not dying. You're just experiencing the side effects." Hannah guided Dorrea to the couch as the younger girl took deep, calming breaths.

"Oh dear…" Dorrea breathed.

"What are you feeling now?"

"Right now? My head hurts and my face feels gross because of the blood." She frowned, and had a contemplative look on her face. Pulling out her wand, she cast a quick cleaning spell on her own face.

Nodding, Hannah sat her down on the couch. "Just, sit here. It will wear off soon." Setting the remaining cake in front of her she told Dorrea, "Eat something."

_**11:16 AM - She thought she was dying. I think I calmed her down. Yeah, I'm that good. She should eat. There's still cake here.**_

Dorrea's eye sparkled and her worried mood instantly vanished, clasping her hands together she squealed excitedly, "Cake! Oh, wow!" She picked up the remaining cake, not bothering cutting a slice, and began to eat it with a fork.

Suddenly their kingdom's door burst open as two Gryffindors burst through the entrance. Shouts of "They have cake!" and "Zack, stop yelling" echoed through the room.

_**11:20 AM - Now she looks happy. It's kinda disturbing. Zack and Ceru joined us. She likes cake. Good girl.**_

Upon seeing the cause of all of the dramatic and traumatic happenings of the previous day in enter the room, Dorrea stood up quickly; causing the rest of the cake to fall off her lap and onto the ground. "Zack Black." She breathed in a quiet, flat voice.

Ceru gave a sad look at the fallen cake, while Hannah went silent in shock at the wasted food.

"Yes, Jude?" Zack, the taller Gryffindor boy who was sporting a creature-poison enhanced body asked hesitantly.

Racing over in a blur of green and black Dorrea jumped on Zack, almost making him fall over, wrapping her arms around his neck in a choke hold, "You're not dead! You're not dead!" She sobbed hysterically.

"What the-"

"Awww-"

"Gahhh!"

Indignant, confused, and surprised shouts filled the room.

_**11:22 AM - She dropped the cake…**_

Sobbing loudly and wrapping her arms around his neck, Zack gasped for air as his face turn blue in the iron grip.

"Try not to kill him, Jude." Dee chuckled.

_**11:23 AM - It was a wonderful cake…**_

Ceru Fairwater, the 'white-knight-complex' girl and the current girlfriend of the man being choked simply looked at the two with a strange expression. Hannah remained on the couch, flipping through her notes. Still eyeing the two, she walked over the Hannah and raised an eyebrow at her. "Has it been like this all day?" The Gryffindor gestured to Dorrea. Hannah hummed in response, and showed her the notebook.

As Ceru flipped through it, Zack tried to gently remove Dorrea from himself. Cries of "You idiot, you idiot!" "Yes, Yes-" "You could have died you idiot!" "Yes, yes, I know-" filled the room.

Suddenly Dorrea called out in a loud voice, "You are mine! You can't die unless _I _say so!"

"Wha-"

"Um… wow-"

Surprised sounds came from the other occupants of the room, along with sounds of Zack choking.

"Jude… don't kill him again…" Ceru began to walk over the the two, slowly and calmly.

_**11:30 AM - Black isn't dead and she's choking him.**_

Zack's face took a blue-ish tinge as his younger sister entered the room.

"Zack?" Nancy Black questioned in a scared voice.

Seeing Zack and Nancy in distress, Ceru pulled the young Slytherin off the tall Gryffindor boy; holding her like a cat, "claws" away from her.

"I'll kill him if I want to cause he is mine!" Dorrea squirmed in Ceru's, hold shouting angrily.

"She's being very possessive…" Deanna whispered to Hannah as she sat on the armrest of the couch. Hannah looked at her notebook and nodded.

_**11:31 AM - Possessive.**_

"Uh, Jude," Ceru eyed the angry cat-like girl in her arms, "sorry to tell you this, but he is more mine than yours. Kinda the girlfriend thing."

Stilling in the Gryffindor's grasp, she forcefully pushed herself out of the hold and turned to give Ceru a furious, fiery look. "MINE." She whipped out her wand and got in a dueling stacne with the promise of death in her eyes.

"Ceru… I think you probably shouldn't have said that…" Deanna stood up from the couch slowly.

"Someone stop her, dammit." Hannah said in an exasperated tone while she rubbed her forehead in annoyance.

"Draw your wand and face your death!" Dorrea shouted in an ominous voice.

"What the-" Ceru started, shaking her head as she put a hand on her hip.

Deanna quickly strode across the room and stood in between the two of them, facing the younger snake. "Calm down, Jude!"

_**11:34 AM - Getting weeeeeeird in here. Possessive over Black and glad he isn't dead. Ceru tried to calm her down and now she's pointing her wand at people. Can this wear off soon?**_

"Move out of the way, Angelica." Dorrea spat out in an angry voice.

Ceru raised her eyebrow then walked around Dee and scooped up the pureblood heiress, throwing her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Dee, take her wand."

"She's not supposed to leave the room." Hannah called from her spot on the couch.

Dorrea's face turned red from embarrassment and anger, her eyes flashing dangerously as objects around the room began to shake.

"Jude, chill." The white-knight girl tried to calm down the raging snake while Deanna took Dorrea's wand. "Wanna talk this out? Hm?"

"Put me down this instant! Thief! Thief!" Dorrea yelled and thrashed around in Ceru's hold.

Ceru sighed heavily and started to talk when Dorrea suddenly shouted "Sectumsempra!" and pointed a finger at Ceru's legs, trying to cast the spell without a wand. Nancy dragged her brother away from the scene and into safety.

_**11:36 AM - SHE CAST A DANGEROUS SPELL ON CERU, MAYDAY, MAYDAY**_

Ceru rolled her eyes as the little heiress pointed at objects in the room, shouting blasting spells left and right. "JUDE. CHILL."

_**11:38 AM - She's veeeery angry. I don't like this side effect.**_

Zack sat up from his position, clearing his throat and rubbing his neck. "I'll take care of this…"

Nancy looked concerned and started to tell him to sit back down when Zack waved her off. "I heal fast now Nancy, don't worry about it."

"Crucio! Crucio! CRUCIO!" Dorrea yelled with a promise of death in her voice.

"Woah! Jude! You are twelve years old, HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT SPELL?!" The older Gryffindor girl said in an alarmed and angry voice.

Smirking evilly, Dorrea shouted in a smug voice, "I know _much_ more than that, Fairwater! He is mine! Mine or _I_ will kill him _myself_!"

"Jude! Stop it!" Deanna interjected trying to calm her down, but Dorrea still shouted nonsense about killing people and how Zack was hers while hitting Ceru's back with her tiny fists.

Zack strode over and grabbed Dorrea's wrists to stop her from hitting Ceru, giving her a stern look. "JUDE. Stop this instant." He said firmly. Hearing the stern tone, Dorrea stilled. Ceru let out a breath of relief.

_**11:44 AM - Blah, now everyone is freaking out… How long will this last? I hope Jude won't remember too much of it.**_

"Hannah," Ceru called softly, "how long is this supposed to last?"

"I assume the potion has brought out, hidden feelings." Zack added.

Hannah flipped through her notes, looking up she replied, "It's supposed to wear off at noon, Ceru. We have another fifteen minutes or so of this."

Ceru sighed and noticed Dorrea fidgeting awkwardly on her shoulder.

"Um-er-uh-em… Ca-can you pu-put me do-down now? Please?" Her face flushing red.

Zack smirked. "She has feeling for you Ceru~" He teased and chuckled.

_**11:46 AM - Now she's calmer. She looks embarrassed. This side effect is definitely a doubled up, un-controllable ball of feels.**_

"Why should I? You are just gonna freak out again?" The older Gryffindor girl sighed, while Dorrea gulped loudly and flushed.

"Jude… will you sit down and be calm?" Deanna asked in a soothing voice.

Zack started grinning madly. "She got embarrassed by being dominated by me and Ceru, that's so cute!"

"Zack, hush." Ceru scolded.

Hannah was trying not to laugh at this whole situation as Dorrea flushed a deeper red and hid her face in Ceru's back.

"Wa-what are you doing? That tickles." Ceru giggled as the younger snake's hair brushed against her back.

"She wants some Ceru lo~ve." Zack wiggled his eyebrows.

"Seriously, hush!" Ceru blushed and frowned. Dorrea on the other hand grabbed ahold of her shirt and tried to hide her face. Zack gave a little "awe~" sound.

_**11:49 AM - She would kill me if I wrote down what is going on now. Let's just say she's… Just standing there, not digging her red face in Ceru's back, no, not at all. She is most definitely standing there.**_

Dorrea continued to squirm and get down from Ceru's shoulder.

"Okay, okay. If I put you down will you not freak out again?" She questioned Dorrea with a raised eyebrow. As the younger girl nodded, Dee rolled her eyes and sighed.

Moving Dorrea from her shoulder, she held the first year by the armpits leaving her feet dangling in the air. "Okay.. I'm going to put you down now…"

"So adorable." The Black heir chuckled.

Dorrea ignored what Ceru and Zack were saying in favor of intently staring at Ceru's face.

_**11:52 AM - The effects should wear off in 8 minutes. Now she just looks...mad? Oh! A stare-off! I'm good at those.**_

"What", Ceru asked hesitantly, "do I have something on my face?" Dorrea didn't move her gaze, Nancy clung to to older brother's arm, and Deanna was flipping through Hannah's notebook. "Ohhh, is this about what happened earlier? Cause I am sorry I kissed yo-"

The first year lunged forward and pressed her lips to the Gryffindor girl. Pulling away a couple of inches she breathed, "More…"

Zack looked petrified.

Deanna choked on her water.

Nancy gasped.

Ceru blushed.

And Hannah, well. "She'd kill me if I wrote that…"

_**11:54 AM - She… hugs Ceru.**_

"Well," Dee gulped, "that was unexpected."

Ceru stammered and blushed, "Wh-what was th-that?"

Dorrea ignored the question and pouted at the lack of lip contact. "More!"

"Zack, I think you lost your girlfriend…" Nancy whispered to her older brother, waking him from his shocked expression.

"Mo-more w-what?" Ceru stuttered.

"She wants the 'C'." Hannah said bluntly, eating some snacks.

"Hannah!" Ceru squeaked out as Dee clapped and laughed, "Hahaha, nice one!" Zack smirked and nudged Ceru, "Go on then."

"You have three minutes and… twenty seconds." Hannah looked at her watch.

"O-okay Ju-jude. If I kiss you, will you not freak out?" The older Gryffindor girl blushed.

"Are, you sure the potion is still in effect?" Zack scratched his scruffy chin in thought.

Dorrea smirked as Ceru seemed to agree to more lip contact. Shooting a smug look at Zack she whispered, "Mine~" and she pointed at Ceru.

Blushing, she replied, "While I don't agree to owning humans, I will kiss you if it calms you down."

"Two minutes now." Hannah reminded the room.

"A shame that the effects are already almost over." Zack sighed. Dee rolled her eyes at that and returned to sitting on the couch next to Hannah.

Dorrea pouted at Ceru's ideals, but leaned forwards. Rolling her eyes at Dorrea's pouting face she leaned in a pressed her lips to the younger girl's, trying to be quick. However, Dorrea's eyes glinted and she launched herself forward trying to make it last longer.

_**11:58 AM - We have made it clear that I am hilarious. And Jude? She seem happy now. Not gonna elaborate on what kind of happiness we can see. But all in all, this experiment has proven one thing; Don't make a potion and test it out on yourself. Feel the feels, if you have them.**_

* * *

A/N: Geh, well. This chapter was crazy.


	4. Chapter 4: THE AFTERMATH

CHAPTER 4: THE AFTER MATH

"Gwah!" Dorrea cried as she and Ceru fell to the ground; her lunge caused Ceru to lose balance. Dorrea's head hit the floor.

"Awe, it is over."

"Aaannnddd, it's noon."

"Oops."

"This is gonna be great."

Dorrea groaned and grabbed her head in pain. "Ugh… I feel like I've been hit by the Hogwarts Express. What happened?"

"Can I dress you up now?" Hannah tilted her head to the side.

"Jude are you okay? Any nosebleed this time?" Dee knelt next to her.

"Yayyy! It's over!" Ceru remained sprawled out on the ground and she shouted in relief.

"This time? Wha-?" She rubbed her head.

"Jude, you feeling better? Any more freak outs?" Ceru sat up and asked her.

"What on Earth are you talking abou-" the first year froze as all of the events from that day came back to her. Ceru made a face as she realized that Dorrea remembered everything.

The heiress jumped up in a panic, her face flushed and eyes watering, and tried to run out of the room.

"Oh geez," Ceru grabbed the girl's tiny wrist, "Look, Jude, calm down." The small snake threw her robe's hood over her head to cover her face as she tried to struggle out of Ceru's grasp. "It's no big deal, really! Do I have to throw you over my shoulder again?"

She stopped struggling, but pulled her hood over her face further; body shaking.

"Look, it's not really a big deal. I'm not worried, Hannah's not worried, nobody's worried. Well, we are worried, but not about the events of the last hour." Ceru tried to convince her, but Dorrea only hunched in on herself trying to make herself smaller. "Hey, don't feel like that…"

Hannah stood up from the couch and stretched a bit, then sat the notebook on a side table near the two girls. "Here are the notes, I'll dress you up later." She continued walking over to the bar.

The white-knight Gryffindor held the little snake in her arm princess style, Dorrea turned into Ceru's chest to hide her face. Zack walked over to join Hannah at the bar "awe~"-ing at the two.

"Jude, you are my friend. Don't be embarrassed. Although do you really think you own people? Cause we gotta fix that. That is NOT something you should say. But really, talk to me. Please?"

Dorrea kept silent and pulled her hood further over her face, her head shook 'no'.

"Why nooooooot?" Ceru raised a hand and tried to push the hood back. "It's not like I've never done anything embarrassing too." The young Slytherin mumbled and tried to hide behind her hair. "I can't hear you, so therefore I can't talk it out with you."

"I'm sorry for the trouble." Dorrea whispered.

"Hey it wasn't any trouble, silly. You're really very light."

"Easy to dominate~" Zack added.

Dorrea hid behind her hands and choked out, "I-I threw un-unfor-forgivables at y-you."

"Because you were under a potion. Though, I am very astonished that you even know those spells in the first place. I think I need to have a word with your parents." Dorrea cringed. "Anyway, I don't blame you. If someone was holding me over their shoulder, I'd react the same way."

"You should blame me…" Dorrea muttered.

"Yeah, Ceru. Puni~sh." Zack leered.

"Jude. I. Don't. Blame. You." Ignoring the Gryffindor boy, Ceru scolded Dorrea.

"Can, you put me down now?" Dorrea flinched at the tone and asked quietly.

"Nope, not until you talk it out more."

Zack rested his chin in his palm, propped up by his elbow. "You know, I don't blame Jude as well. Everyone knows how irresistible Ceru is."

"ZACK, HUSH." She blushed.

Dorrea whispered in a mildly irritated tone, "You don't get it, do you?"

"Obviously not, or I wouldn't want you to tell me." The older Gryffindor girl raised her eyebrow.

Squirming and trying to push herself out of Ceru's hold, to no avail as the red head held her tighter, she squeezed her eyes and shouted, "The side effects double, maybe even triple, what I was already feeling! Meaning, I-I really wanted to torture you. Kill you even!" Tears streaked down her cheeks.

Deanna sighed and said, "Jude… you didn't want to kill her. You were just angry. That much anger can make people do stupid things."

Ceru interjected, "Besides, I don't think you are understanding me-"

"You aren't understanding, the base feelings were already there!"

"You were reacting to me being, well, kinda already rude. Hatred divided by three does not equal hatred!"

"I can't believe I wanted to torture you, kill you…"

"Just because you felt like that under the effects of the potion does not mean you want to kill me now, does it?"

Dorrea grumbled, "Well… no. But-"

"No. No buts." Ceru gave her a stern look. "I do not give a single crap about what you did under the potion, because it is not really you. When YOU are the one who is fully aware and decides to kill me, THEN I'll have a problem with you. Until that happens, I am STILL your friend and I am STILL going to talk to you."

Hannah, Dee, and Zack all sat quietly at the bar listening in on the conversation. They sipped at their own drinks.

The young snake grumbled.

"So, shut up and hug me."

Grumbling further she replied, "I can't hug you like this." She gestured to the position they were in.

"Like what? Oh, sorry." Noticing she was still holding Dorrea like a princess, she set her down upright.

Standing awkwardly, Dorrea shuffled. "Um…"

The white-knight Gryffindor held out her arms expectantly for a hug. The younger girl reached out hesitantly, suddenly scooping her up Ceru twirled her around.

"Juuuudeeee~ My little ickle firstie!"

After Ceru stopped twirling, she set Dorrea down on the ground. The smallest snake turned around and awkwardly faced the rest of the room.

"I-I'm sorry about the trouble. Next time I will be sure to do more research beforehand."

"Don't worry about it Jude, we still love you." Dee chuckled and waved it off.

"There's your notes," Hannah pointed to the side table, "and it's fine."

Nodding, Dorrea walked over to retrieve the notebook. Flipping through it she muttered to herself, "Sociopathic tendency inducing potion? Hm, that is a good idea..."

"Oh, you silly girl." Zack shook his head and grinned.

"JUDE. No." Ceru said sternly.

"That sounds really dangerous." A new voice came from the RoR entrance as their Ravenclaw friend Kyle McShade entered the room.

"What?" Dorrea raised an eyebrow. "One failed experiment isn't going to stop me, I'll just spend more time researching beforehand." She explained as she kept flipping through the notebook, a mild scowl on her face at the inadequate notes.

Deanna exchanged looks with Hannah. "I don't think we need any extra sociopathic tendencies, Jude."

"Sociopathic... then you might actually go shooting unforgivables..." Ceru muttered in an exasperated tone.

Kyle turned to Ceru and suggested, "Might be best to take away her wand next time."

"I did Kyle, she tried shooting blasting spells with her finger anyway." Dee chuckled and lounged on the couch.

"Then lock it away next time." He raised his eyebrow.

"Ahem," Dorrea cleared her throat and put a hand on her hip, an annoyed look on her face. "I'm sure if I spend an additional week on the next one it will be fine." She waved off their concerns dismissively.

Nancy stepped forward with her hand hesitantly raised, "Um, I could test it next time Jude..."

"Tch," Dorrea tisked in an annoyed voice, "That is ridiculous, the potions need to be keyed to the user. Obviously. Meddlesome lions..." Eyeing the disproving looks around the room she sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll try the skin fluctuation, chemical balancing potion next."

"That sounds much better." Ceru sighed. Seeing the surprised looks on her companion's faces she shrugged and said, "I'm an empath remember? I'd rather not empathize with a Jude-sociopath."

Rolling her eyes, Dorrea nodded and began to explain her theory when her stomach grummbled. "Ah, I suppose it is time for lunch then?" She turned in the direction of the RoR exit to head to the Great Hall when an "ahem" called out behind her.

Hannah sat on a bar stool, leaning against it with a mischievously smug look on her face. "We had a deal Jude~"

Slumping her shoulder she pouted, "Can't we eat first?"

Pulling a large bag out from behind the bar counter she grinned, "Nope!"

* * *

A/N: And the effects of the potion are over, now Dorrea has to keep up her end of the deal! Make-over time!


	5. Chapter 5: THE MAKE-OVER

A/N: This is the last chapter for the first "Jude's Experiments" series! I can't wait for more adventures and laughs with my lovely companions of the RoR kingdom.

* * *

CHAPTER 5: THE MAKE-OVER

Dorrea grumbled in an irritated manor, annoyed that her plan of putting of the make-over as long as possible, by suggesting they eat first, failed. Ceru summoned a changing room box that the Room of Requirement provided.

"Your notes were less than ideal, so I claim the right for addition input." Dorrea crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Well, everything I wrote was all that happened. What was I supposed to do? Describe what the floor looked like?" Hannah replied in a bored tone as she fished through her bag to get out what she needed. Dorrea tisked and crossed her arms.

Hannah pulled out what looked like a pair of thigh-high fishnet stockings, a pair of black leather boots, a short green dress, and a leather jacket.

"Oh, I like those stockings..." Zack's eyes widened. Dee chuckled at Zack's response and also Ceru's attempt to cover his eyes.

A can of hairspray, black eyeliner, silver-covered eyeshadow and black extra-volume mascara were pulled out of the bag next. Hannah turned to face Dorrea, trying to hold back a snicker. "The deal also said you have to eat with us in the Great Hall~"

Dorrea sputtered. "What? No it didn't!"

Holding up the green dress to Dorrea's body with a contemplative look, she tilted her head to the side and muttered to herself. "It should fit... I wore this when I was ten..." Raising an eyebrow at Dorrea she said, "Yes, it did. A deal is a deal."

Pouting angerly Dorrea snatched the green dress and inspected it. "At least it is green..."

"Oh course it is!" Hannah snorted and handed her the rest of the clothes, pointing to the dressing-room box she told Dorrea to change then come out for her to do the make-up and hair.

Inspecting the rest of the clothes she cried out indignantly, "These stockings have holes in them! These are entirely holes!"

"Yes, yes, thank you captain obvious. Now, off you go." Hannah shooed her away.

Looking at the stocking in disgust she grumbled, "Fine..." She took the bundle of clothes and slammed the door the to dressing-room box in a huff.

Ceru rolled her eyes and Zack leaned back against the bar counter humming to himself. Hannah sorted through her make-up bag while Kyle sat next to Dee on the couch.

* * *

"Hannaaaaahhhhhhh, do I _have_ to wear this?" Dorrea complained from behind the door.

"Yeeeeeeesss. You do." Hannah replied in a bored tone, but sported a grin.

Sighing heavily, Dorrea opened the door slowing and poked her head out first to glare at everyone. "Not a word, from any of you." She glared menacingly at her companions in the room as she walked out from behind the door.

Cries of "Oooohhh!" "Cute!" "Oh my god, Juuddee!" "Woah." filled the room as the young pureblood heiress dressed in Hannah's clothes slumped across the room.

Nodding in approval, Hannah waved a can of hairspray and gestured for Dorrea to sit in the chair in front of her. As Dorrea grumpily sat in the chair, Hannah hummed to herself. "Now, let's see..." With some rapid swipes of a comb combined with generous amounts of hairspray, Dorrea's hair quickly resembled a rockstar. "Now close your eyes and sit still." Taking the eye make-up out of her make-up bag she began to dress-up Dorrea's eyes with silver eye-shadow and eyeliner. Opening up her bottle of mascara, Hannah tilted Dorrea's head up. "Now open your eyes and look down."

"My eyes feel heavy, I don't think I can open them." Dorrea complained in a deadpan tone of voice.

"Sure you can." Hannah scolded impatiently, Ceru snickered in the background.

Dorrea grumpily opened her eyes and looked down. Gently applying the mascara, Hannah grinned. "Done," she closed the mascara bottle, "Now we can go eat."

Trying to stand up from the chair, Dorrea wobbled and complained. "This is awful," she sneezed from the smell of the hairspray, "My head and face feel heavy, and my hair smells funny."

Hannah smirked and gestured for her to follow them, "Come now, you look lovely." Sighing and following the older snake towards the door, she heard Ceru and Kyle muttering to each other.

"Makeup doesn't weigh that much."

"Well, that is Jude for you."

"I heard that, McShade!"

"I think you were supposed to, Jude." Dee chuckled.

"Well then, he just earned himself a place on my blacklist." Dorrea stuck her nose up in the hair and continued walking. As she directed her eyes towards the ceiling, she lost her footing and tripped. "Gahhh! These boots! Ow, ow, ow." She pouted and held her ankle.

Hannah rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Are you kidding me?" She walked over and tried to help her up. "They don't even have high heels!"

"Well, excuse me for not being used to wearing boots like these!" Dorrea huffed and winced as she put some pressure on her ankle.

Holding Dorrea upright by the arm, Hannah sighed. "Well. You did good. I'll take you to the Hospital Wing." They both gestured for their companions to go on to the Great Hall without them. After Hannah dropped off the little snake at the Hospital Wing, she went to join her companions for lunch.

* * *

A/N: And that concludes Jude's first experiment! Thanks to Ceru, Hannah, Zack, McShade, Angelica, Flourish and Nancy for being such an awesome RP group! o


	6. Jude's Experiment 2: Chapter 1

Jude's Experiment #2: Chemical and Physical Fluctuation Balancer

A/N: Greetings! This is the second installment of Jude's Experiments! Ah~ When will she learn? Haha. Thanks to all of my HiH RP companions, you are all fabulous and wonderful people.

* * *

It was a rainy Sunday at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, inside the Room of Requirement five students lazed about on couches in boredom. The smallest of these five however was not in a state of boredom, in fact, it was the opposite. Dorrea Jude, a twelve year old Slytherin, was intently going over the papers and books in front of her while muttering equations under her breath.

Kyle McShade, an older Ravenclaw boy, was experiencing the effects of his own experimentation, the gender transfiguration charm, and casually flipped from male to female in his boredom. Strolling across the room in his female form, he stopped in front of Dorrea and looked over her shoulder. "What are those papers about Jude?"

Looking up from the papers in front of her, she rolled her eyes in a bored fashion. "A girl again, are we?"

"Indeed. It depends on my mood." Kyle shrugged.

A couple of giggles came from the couch behind them as Hannah Sofie, the always-hungry-Slytherin girl, and Heather Barnes, the 'I-can't-believe-she-is-a-Hufflepuff' girl, whispered to each other. Hopping up from the couch, they both walked over to the table that Jude sat at.

Ignoring the two girls, Dorrea gave a contemplative look at the Ravenclaw in front of her. "McShade, you are… relatively competent, yes?"

"To a certain degree, yes."

"How is your hand writing?"

Kyle sat down in the chair across from the smallest snake, and began to write a couple of sentences to demonstrate. Munching on a bowl full of nachos that the Room of Requirement provided, Hannah asked between bites, "Anything interesting going on?"

"Just twenty questions apparently." Heather smiled and shrugged.

"I am in need of a new assistant because someone," Dorrea glanced at Hannah, "can't take very good notes." She looked down and examined Kyle's handwriting. "Atrocious, but legible I suppose…"

Hannah chuckled and shook her head. "Ah, kids these days."

With a huff, Dorrea scowled. "Not a child."

"Nooo, not at all." The older snake rolled her eyes and smiled.

Clearing her throat, Dorrea sat up with a haughty posture. "McShade, how would you like the opportunity to assist me?" She asked in a tone dripping with pride.

"It would be a pleasure." Kyle replied with a smile.

Laughing loudly, Heather smacked Kyle on the back. "What a huge honor, serving the kiddies!"

An annoyed groan came from the corner of the room, a Gryffindor with dark shaggy hair stretched in the red, plush armchair he was previously sleeping on. The Ravenclaw shot the loud girl a dirty look, to which she replied with a wiggle of her eyebrows and her tongue stuck out.

"So, what will you be doing to yourself this time?" Hannah asked as she continued eating her nachos.

"Maybe she will turn herself into a dog; that would be cool." Heather snickered and Kyle reluctantly chuckled along with her.

"As long as I don't have to walk her." The older snake yawned.

Dorrea shot the three a stern glare, than turned back to McShade with a professional aura. "Normally I'd say that the chance alone to assist me is compensation enough or your efforts, however, since you seem to be cooperative, I shall ask if you'd like additional compensation." She folded her hands neatly on her lap.

"Perhaps these two could be test subjects next time?" Kyle gestured to the two other girls with a grin.

"Is that the compensation you want?"

"It would be pretty entertaining."

"Very well then."

Hannah and Heather exchanged glances and scowled. "If I get turned into a dog, I will shit in your beds." Hannah growled and Heather sneered, "You'd have to catch me first and plus, I know some nasty hexes and a Professor's Pet… so hexes and detentions."

Standing up from the café-like table and gathering her papers back into a neat stack, Dorrea began to walk out of the room and towards the dungeons. "I'll go get the potion then," turning and calling over her shoulder, "I'll be right back." Closing the door behind her, the youngest snake walked down the corridors of Hogwarts towards the potion laboratories in the dungeons.

"This is gonna be good." Heather rubbed her hands together and smirked.

* * *

A/N: Oh dear. Here we go again. XD


	7. Chapter 2: START

CHAPTER 2: START

Returning from the potions labs in the dungeons of Hogwarts, the young pure-blood heiress strode up the moving staircases towards the seventh floor. Pacing back and forth across from a ridiculous looking tapestry, a door appeared in front of the small Slytherin girl. Opening the door, laughter could be heard inside of the Room of Requirement.

Closing the door behind her, Dorrea gestured for Kyle to sit down at the café-like table which they usually sat at. "Right, now before we start," she sat down in her usual chair, "I need to go over some information first." Pulling out a vial of rainbow-colored potion and setting it on the table, she heard Zack Black wake up from the plush armchair in the corner of the room.

As Kyle sat down, Dorrea continued. "First," she held up a finger, "the potion should act as an overall stabilizer for the chemical reactions that come along with emotions. Meaning, I should not show any physical changes at all." A yawn came from the corner of the room, interrupting her. "Ahem," she held up a second finger, "secondly, to test this, I require some sort of questions to test my reactions." Shuffling through her folders and papers, Dorrea searched for her prewritten questions.

Punching Zack in the shoulder as he rose from his armchair, Heather snickered. "How much we betting this blows up in her face?"

Yawning and stretching his arms over his head, he shrugged. "She's smart, it won't blow up. Although, it would be funny." He gave a smile grin.

"Yeah, like," the Hufflepuff girl laughed hysterically, "like, like, if it singed her eyebrows off!" Clutching her stomach and using Zack to hold herself up, Heather continued laughing. Getting herself under control she turn towards Dorrea, "So," she wiped a few tears from laughing so hard away from her eyes, "what is this supposed to do exactly? I need to know if I gotta take cover."

With an annoyed sigh, Dorrea replied in a bored voice. "It will simply restrain any outward physical reactions. The worst it will do is make my heart stop." Rolling her eyes and waving the danger off dismissively while shuffling through her papers.

"Uh…" Heather turned to Zack to back her up, "maybe we shouldn't let her do this. I could lose my Prefect position for having a first year die on me." Crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the Gryffindor boy; once again proving her 'I-can't-believe-she-is-a-Hufflepuff' nickname.

Crossing his own arms he responded, "I still can't understand why she is doing all this." Zack turned to face Dorrea. "Jude, why exactly are you doing this?"

Ignoring Zack's inquiry, she didn't look up from her papers. "I'm not going to die, I've spent over a week researching this." She grumbled impatiently.

"A week, huh?" Heather scoffed.

"_Over_ a week." Dorrea stuck her nose up in the air with a haughty tone.

"Well I guess that makes you an expert." The Hufflepuff rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"Indeed, it does." Handing Kyle the paper with a list of question, Dorrea dismissed the others in favor of moving her experiment along. "I'll leave the method of testing my emotional responses up to you." Kyle nodded as Dorrea continued to lecture. "Be sure to write down the reactions and times, as well as anything else you find important." The little snake stood from her chair. "Ah, I am also leaving it up to you to keep me in the room as well."

"Zack…" Heather whispered to the Gryffindor, "I still think this is a bad idea. We shouldn't let them do this."

"People need to learn the hard way sometimes."

"If something goes wrong you're taking them to the hospital wing, I was never here."

"Don't worry Heather," Zack chuckled, "I can treat her if something goes wrong."

Taking a deep breath, Heather sighed. "You'd better…" She shuddered, thinking of dead first years.

"She can be my first patient- I mean…" He coughed awkwardly.

Picking up the rainbow potion filled vial, Dorrea turned to the others in the room. Zack and Heather gave a disapprove and worried look, Kyle, still in his girl form, looked ready with a pen and paper in hand, and Hannah… was asleep on the couch. Hesitating, Dorrea looked them all in the eye. "Please," pinching the bridge of her nose, "Don't do anything foolish."

Raising their eyebrows the three gave a look as to say, _"You are the one asking that? Really?"_

"Right," casting a quick Tempus time spell, "it is around 2:50pm, and the effects should only last around an hour." Dorrea gestured for Kyle to write that down as she uncorked the potion.

"Start time," he scribbled, "two fifty in the afternoon…"

Nodding to herself, she downed the potion in one gulp. In the corner of her eye, she saw Heather pull Zack behind the couch in anticipation for an explosion. Suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her as she fell back into her chair feeling faint.

"Oh great," Zack peeked over the back of the couch, "she is dead already."

* * *

A/N: Oh, don't look so freaked out. Of course she isn't dead. Next up, the real fun starts!


	8. Chapter 3: MOOD RING GIRL

CHAPTER 3: MOOD RING GIRL

"Well that was unpleasant." Dorrea Jude groaned, clutching her head as her skin flushed a slightly green color.

"Well, she is turning green." The Gryffindor boy raised an eyebrow.

"Damn." Heather whistled.

**2:53PM – Face turning green after consumption.**

Kyle scribbled in the notebook with his own eyebrow raised.

Keeping her eyes closed as she moved her hand from her forehead to cover her eyes, she grumbled out. "Mild nausea. Write that down." Dorrea waved to Kyle in annoyance.

**2:53PM – And nausea.**

"Even in that state she can be a pain in the ass." Zack rolled his eyes and plopped down in his maroon, plush, armchair.

"At least she isn't dead." Heather smiled brightly as she sat on the maroon chair's armrest. "So, what are we going to do?"

"We enjoy the show." The messy haired Gryffindor smirked and crossed his right leg smoothly over the left.

Summoning a cup of water, the pureblood heiress sipped at the water in attempt to relieve her nausea. Taking a deep breath, she turned and took a professional stance. "Begin the questions."

"Er, okay." Clearing his throat, Kyle began. "What is, uh, your name?"

"Dorrea Jude." The young snake gave her response in an expressionless, blank tone of voice.

**2:55PM – First question, normal expression.**

"What house and year?"

"Slytherin, first year."

"Um..." Kyle looked down at the list of questions in his hand. "What is your name?"

"This is the test for my reaction to lying, correct?" Kyle nodded at Dorrea's question. "Hannah Sofie." As soon as she stated the false name, her skin took a red tint.

**3:03PM – Face turns a slight red color as she lied?**

Giving a contemplative look, Kyle stared off in thought.

"McShade," Dorrea snapped her fingers and her skin flashed yellow, "next question." Although the sentence sounded impatient, her voice and expression remained flat.

**3:07PM – Skin flashed yellow**

"Ah, um. What is your age?"

"Fifteen."

**3:08PM – Yellow and red interchange after questioning. Does the change in color have to do with the questions?**

"She seems like one of those muggle things on the road to control traffic." The Black heir turned and commented to the girl sitting on his chair's armrest.

"Stoplight, Zack."

"Yeah, that."

"Sounds like you could benefit from Muggle Studies."

Zack gave an unamused grunt as Heather snickered. Kyle, on the other hand, continued to question the youngest snake, ignoring the other two's commentary.

"House and year?"

"Gryffindor, 5th year." Her posture remaining perfectly straight, and face expressionless, Dorrea's lies gave no indication that they were less than the absolute truth; except for the fact her skin was flushing a deeper shape of red with each passing question.

**3:12PM – Skin continues to turn red.**

Flopping on Zack, abandoning her perch on the armrest, Heather groan and complained. "This is so boring, let's do something else." Zack merely gave an uninterested hum. "Jude, what are you trying to do here anyway?" The Hufflepuff sighed in boredom.

"I'm engaging in an experiment, obviously." She bit out in a short tone, her eyes flashing purple.

**3:15PM – Did, did her eyes just flash purple?**

"No shit…" Heather mumbled to herself. "Hey, Ky," she grinned mischievously, "why don't you smack her in the face and see what happens?"

Shrugging, the boy in a girl's body rose from his chair and approached the small Slytherin girl. Raising his hand back, he gave her a firm slap across the face.

Silence filled the room after the loud smack.

"May I ask," Dorrea quietly inquired as her skin and eyes bleed a deep red color with each passing word, "why you felt the need to strike me?" Her expression and voice remaining expressionless, however somehow they held an air of danger; most likely attributed to her blood-red eyes.

"Uh… emotional test?" Kyle fidgeted nervously, looking back at Heather.

Holding up her hands in defense Heather frowned. "Don't blame me, I was only joking. You should hit her Ky."

"Now you say that…" He muttered.

**3:22PM – Eyes and skin a deep red color after I slapped her to test for anger.**

Dorrea's skin and eyes faded from a deep red to only a shade of red. "I see."

The tense feeling of danger dissipating from the room as the young pureblood heiress' eyes returned to their usual vibrant green. Zack, Heather, and Kyle's shoulders all seemed to slump in relief. Just as they relaxed, the Room of Requirement's door opened.

"Hi guys." None other than Ceru Fairwater, the white-knight-complex of Gryffindor, strolled into the midst of yet another experiment.

The tension returned.

* * *

A/N: Apologies if the installments are shorter than the last story, I felt like breaking it up a bit more.

A couple of quick notes, if you haven't noticed by now, yes, the potion that Dorrea made was effective in that it restrains her physical reactions to emotional responses. Meaning, not sweaty palms, twitches, etc. when she is lying or feeling something like, irritation for example. Instead, she gained the unfortunate side-effect of her skin and eyes changing colors depending on her mood.

So far we can observe:

Green - Nausea

Red - Lying

Purple - Irritation

Yellow - Impatient

Have fun figuring out the rest of the colors!~


	9. Chapter 4: CONFRONTATIONS AND LIES

A/N: Strap in for a long chapter! Dra~m~a!

* * *

CHAPTER 4: CONFRONTATIONS AND LIES

"You missed most of the fun, Ceru!" Heather straightened from her previous position, draping herself over Zack out of boredom, to sitting on the armrest of the maroon chair. Waving to Ceru in greeting, she chuckled.

"Fun? What fun?" The red-headed Gryffindor went straight for the two on the arm chair, pointedly ignoring Dorrea and Kyle.

Deadpanning, Zack replied in a serious monotone. "We were all naked."

"Oh yes," Heather winked at Zack, "butt-naked indeed. We were just about to get busy, you wanna join?" She snickered and wiggled her eyebrows.

Frowning at her boyfriend Zack, Ceru crossed her arms.

"So, you wanna join or not?" Zack rested his cheek on his hand that was being propped up on the vacant armrest.

Seeing that Ceru wasn't finding this funny, Heather hopped up from the armrest. "Better be careful Zack, she's looking mad."

"Well obviously it doesn't matter," Ceru snapped as she glanced away in an annoyed fashion, "since you're so willing to do it when I am not here."

Chuckling and waving off her annoyance, he gestured for her to sit on the previously occupied armrest. "We weren't doing anything, relax." Grinning he rested his hand on her back. "But, if you want~"

Flushing slightly and pouting, Ceru mumbled. "It wasn't funny, you know." She let out a yelp when Heather laughed and mockingly put her in a choke hold.

"Calm down, we were just kidding. We are waiting to see if Jude blows up."

At Heather's comment, the three of them returned their gaze to the scene before them. Apparently, while they were distracted, Kyle thought it would be an excellent idea to conjure the illusions of a handful of dementors to float around the smallest snake. Although they were merely illusions, they couldn't help but shudder at the thought of a real dementor. Dorrea on the other hand remained motionless, expressionless, and toneless as she sighed.

"Ah, dementors. I see. How frightening." Although she responded to the situation in a monotone, her skin and eyes quickly drained of color and took on a grey color.

Vanishing the illusions, Kyle sighed and scribbled down in his notebook.

**3:30PM – Fear tested through the use of dementor illusions. No indication of fear in her voice, but skin and eyes rapidly turned gray.**

Observing the experiment, Ceru asked Heather. "Why is she changing color?"

Heather laughed. "She's like one of those mood rings!" Ceru hummed in interest.

Hearing Ceru's hum of interest, Dorrea slid her eyes over to look at the Gryffindor girl. In doing so, her eyes turned a blue/gray color; she quickly removed her gaze from the girl and back to her assistant.

"Hm… how to test for embarrassment?" Kyle contemplated under his breath. Shrugging, he set down his notebook, held Dorrea's face in his hands, and gave her a firm kiss.

"Well." Ceru's eyebrows shot up at the action.

Dorrea's eyes flashed from the gray/blue color to a fiery red, her skin taking a pink tone. Once again, showing no indication of emotion, she firmly addressed Kyle. "Remove yourself from my personal space at once."

**3:39PM – Embarrassment tested through a kiss. Eyes flashed from blue/gray to red and skin to a bright pink?**

Once her assistant moved back a few feet to scribble down notes in his book, Dorrea's eyes hesitantly slid over to Ceru once again. Their eyes meeting, the Gryffindor flushed in memory of the previous day; anger returning to her.

They both diverted their gaze.

"I should leave." Ceru clenched her fists.

Paling, Kyle set down the notebook and walked over to Ceru. Apologies falling from his mouth like a faucet. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Ceru asked.

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

"Well, um," the Ravenclaw flushed and twiddled his thumbs, "I thought, well, that is, um." He stammered and thought to himself, _"How am I supposed to say 'Sorry for kissing her and making you jealous' without sounding ridiculous?"_ Not being able to voice his thoughts, he mumbled out a 'never mind' under his breath.

Looking back and forth from the two girls who were obviously averting their eyes from each other, Heather frown and pointed between then. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." The two girls said simultaneously. Frowning, Ceru crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. Dorrea's eyes returned to a blue/gray color as she stared at the table-top in front of her.

"Mhm." Heather raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Zack, he shrugged.

~the previous day~

_"Hahaha, Zack, we are going to break her."_

_"Come on Ceru, this is hilarious!"_

_"She looks like a frozen computer screen!"_

_"Shut-up Kyle."_

_"What, she does!"_

_"Geh, she fainted."_

_"Wow, we actually broke her."_

_"She is rather adorable when she is sleeping."_

_"When she isn't mouthing off, you mean."_

_"Er."_

_"Oh, she is waking up."_

_"Wha-what happened?"_

_"You fainted."_

_"How did I get on the couch?"_

_"Jude, calm down."_

_"Woah, she is freaking out."_

_"What did you do to me?"_

_"Geez, calm down."_

_"Let go of me."_

_"Not until you calm down."_

_"You might wanna let go Ceru, she looks like she is gonna hex you."_

_"Her wand is on the table."_

_"Fine, then."_

_"Woah. STOP. Hands down, do not threaten me."_

_"Then release me."_

_"Friends don't threaten friends."_

_"Ceru…"_

_"Who says I am your friend?"_

_"Jude, geez."_

_"Oh, is that what you think?"_

_"…"_

_"Girls, calm dow-"_

_"Shut it. I'm leaving."_

~return to today~

Ceru clenched her teeth and bit out. "Because _she_ doesn't want me here."

Frowning, the Hufflepuff asked again. "What is going on?"

"Nothing." Ceru huffed and turned away from Heather.

Meanwhile, Kyle seemed to be at a loss at testing a few of the other emotions on the list. Happiness? Attraction? How was he supposed to test those? Observing Kyle's confused state, Zack stood up from the maroon chair; seeing the confusion as an opportunity to slip in and get some of his own questions answered from the 'drugged' girl.

"Zack?" Ceru pouted as she saw him move towards the Slytherin.

"I just want to know what color I get."

Upon seeing the Black heir walk her way, Dorrea tilted her head to the side. "Hm?" Her skin and eyes turning a golden color. "Do you need something?"

Heather laughed. "Maybe that means annoyed Zack."

"So," Ceru tried not to giggle, "the colors signify emotions or something, right?"

"Looks like it." Kyle shrugged and jotted down the color.

**3:44PM – Attraction? Turned gold in front of Zack.**

"What are you writing, Ky?" Heather inquired from across the room.

"I think attraction is gold?"

Smirking, she grabbed Ceru's wrist and pulled her towards the others. "I think we should check that color again." The Gryffindor stammered and was pulled forward reluctantly.

Moving her gaze from Zack to Ceru, Dorrea's skin turned a deep blue/gray while her eyes flashed pink.

**3:46PM – Attraction? Turned blue/gray with pink eyes in front of Ceru**

"I think that means she wants the 'C'." Heather boisterously laughed.

"H-hey! I-I wouldn't d-do anything!" Ceru stammered as Zack chuckled, putting an arm around Ceru.

"It is such a shame she is so young." He shook his head and sign regretfully.

"Geez, I know you guys wouldn't do anything. Get your minds out of the gutters, I just think puppy-love is too cute!" She squealed.

Skin turning purple, Dorrea looked to Heather. "Would you lower your voice?"

"I'll think about it." The brown, wavy haired girl teased.

Dorrea's eyes flashed red at the teasing, she crossed her arms.

"What does purple skin mean? Is she going to die?" Heather looked at the small girl curiously.

"I doubt it." Kyle shrugged.

**3:49PM – Purple skin? Probably not going to die.**

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm still breathing, aren't I?" Dorrea replied in a monotone.

The white-knight-Gryffindor girl took a seat at the small café-like table across from the pureblood heiress, resting her cheek in her hand she sighed. "I wanted to have a chat, but I guess it will have to wait." Tilting her head to the side and examining the girl she questioned to herself. "Attraction was it?"

Kyle picked up on the question and asked Dorrea. "What are your feelings toward Ceru?"

The four of them loomed over the little snake in anticipation.

"Nothing in particular." Her skin and eyes fluctuated rapidly between shades of red, pink, blue, and gray.

"Hm. I'm calling bullshit on that one, Kyle." Heather crossed her arms; Ceru looked annoyed at Dorrea's blank expression.

**3:51PM – Feelings towards Ceru? N/A. Rapid skin and eye color changes.**

Narrowing her eyes at the smaller girl, Ceru stood up from the table. "Ok, I am leaving." She announced in an irritated tone.

"Ceru…" Zack gently tugged the girl over towards himself. "Don't be mad." Giving her a light kiss and a hug, she blushed and grumbled. Unbeknownst to them, Dorrea's eyes flashed purple at the act.

Shoulder slumping, she marched over to Dorrea with her hands on her hips. "Stop lying."

"I'm not lying." Dorrea's skin betrayed her answer as it turned red.

"Stop lying." Ceru's voice rose.

Zack rolled his eyes and pushed Ceru onto the sitting Dorrea, a yelp came from the Gryffindor girl.

"What was that for?"

"Just kiss her so we can move on."

"Please, get off me."

Looking down at the girl she was crushing, Ceru carefully removed herself. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Not, not particularly." The heiress' skin flushed a deeper red.

"You're lying." Ceru narrowed her eyes, concern gone from her voice; replaced by the return of irritation.

Distractingly looking at her watch, Dorrea mouthed the seconds counting down till the potion would wear off.

Three minutes to go.

"You did not hurt me with your fall." She conceded to a roundabout way of telling the truth, her skin paling back to a normal looking color.

Raising an eyebrow, Ceru was adamant at getting the truth. "What-," she looked her lips, looking mildly uncomfortable, "what about emotionally?"

The younger girl, dipped her head in an attempt at hiding her face as it changed back to red.

Another lie.

Pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance, Ceru sighed. "Oh geez. Jude, we really need to talk this out. Okay? I'm sorry for yesterday-"

"Thank you for the apology, but a 'talk' is not necessary." Dorrea interrupted as her skin and eyes began to pale towards gray.

Stamping her foot and clenching her fists, the Gryffindor pushed onward. "Yes, we do!" Frowning at the gray color, she glanced towards Kyle. "What, what color does gray mean?" She lowered her voice.

Flipping through his notes he found the answer. "Uh… she turned gray when the dementor illusions were around. So, I suppose, fear?" Kyle shrugged as he changed back into his male form out of boredom.

"What?" Ceru spun around and gave a firey look to Dorrea, tears forming in her eyes. "Why are you afraid of me?"

"I'm not-" Dorrea tilted her head to the side in an attempt to look innocent, her skin turning red to indicate she was lying.

"STOP LYING!" This time Ceru interrupted her, squeezing her eyes shut as a few tears escaped. Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room.

Looking at his watch, Kyle took his last note in the notebook.

**4:00PM – Experiment completed.**

* * *

A/N: Guwahhhh. That was dramatic. Right, so, an important thing to know is that Dorrea and Ceru are indeed friends... but Dorrea is a little twat and Ceru is overemotional. XD

Wonderful mix, isn't it? Haha

Here are the colors for this chapter:

Red skin - Lying

Red eyes - Anger

Blue - Sad

Grey - Fear

Purple - Irritation/Annoyance

Pink - Embarrassed

Gold - Curious

Next chapter will be the last for this short story, so enjoy~


	10. Chapter 5: FEARS

A/N: Ugh. Jude is such a little twat. For a Slytherin her sense of self preservation come out at the weirdest times. -_-

* * *

CHAPTER 5: FEARS

"Thank god, that's over." Heather broke the tense silence.

Waking up from the sound of the slamming door, Hannah sat up and grumbled unpleasantly. "Wha-what is going on now?" She surveyed the room, noticing the tense atmosphere. "Geez, I sleep for a few hours and BOOM, chaos." Rolling her eyes, she stretched and walked over to where Dorrea was sitting.

"Zack," Heather raised an expectant eyebrow at the boy, "don't you have something you should be doing right now?"

"Hm?" He scratched his chin.

The Hufflepuff sighed heavily and jerked her thumb towards the door Ceru ran out of. "Ceru."

Pouting he frowned. "What? But it's not my fault she ran out."

"So what, she's your girlfriend and I don't do the whole comforting thing."

"Zack, go. You're the only one who can calm her down." Kyle interjected from his spot at the Room of Requirement's bar.

"Geez, these people make the mistakes and I gotta mend them." The Black heir shoved his hands in his pockets with a huff and exited the room out the same door Ceru did.

Heather put her hands on her hips and stood next to Hannah and Dorrea at the café-like table they were seated at. "Where the hell were you anyways Han, I had to babysit and obviously the tots are out of control." Ignoring the yellow and black tie wearing girl, Dorrea hunched over and flipped though her notes.

"I was asleep. And I'm still confused, why is everyone freaking out?"

"Everyone went batshit crae in here, Jude has some weird crush on Ceru and even I'm not completely sure what was happening."

Hannah raised an eyebrow at Heather's comment. "Huh." She looked down and observed the younger snake rub her chest absently while taking deep breaths as she flipped through her notebook. Frowning and furrowing her eyebrows at the action she asked, "Jude, you alright?

* * *

Ceru sniffled and wiped her face with her palms as she tried to calm down in the corridor outside of the Room of Requirement. Her boyfriend Zack appeared from the door and walked over to her. Plopping down on the ground next to her, he tipped his head back to rest on the wall behind him.

"Oi", he poked Ceru's head lightly, "Warrior. Why are you crying? How are you supposed to fight monsters in this state?" Zack gave a soft smile.

"I can't fight monsters anymore." The Gryffindor hiccuped and wiped her face again.

"Stop crying, you know Jude likes you. She just… has a really hard time to convey it."

"It's not about that!"

He frowned and tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms. "Then what?"

"She," Ceru gulped, "she's afraid of me and she won't tell me why."

"She not afraid of you, she's afraid of her feelings."

Ceru bit her lip and stared down at the floor. "Whatever, she honestly doesn't want to talk with me."

Sighing, Zack wrapped an arm around her and kissed her.

"Better?"

Ceru flushed and gave a small smile. "A bit, yeah."

"What can I do to make you feel better?" His thumb stroked her cheek in a comforting manner.

"Just stop teasing her about liking me for once so I can talk to her." She pouted.

"Very well." Zack gave an exaggerated sigh.

"I left my bag in there, I gotta go grab it."

"Alright, let's go get it."

The two Gryffindors stood up from the wall, hand-in-hand, and approached the door

* * *

Upon entering the room, they caught the end of Dorrea saying "-fine, quit nagging."

Strolling over towards the coach where Ceru left her bag, the Gryffindor kept her eyes locked to the ground with her fists clenched. Zack hummed absently.

"Fine, fine." Hannah raised her hands in defense. "Seems like everyone had a weird day…"

"You better believe it." Heather rolled her eyes at Hannah and kept an eye on the youngest girl.

Picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, Ceru hesitantly strode over to where the three girls were sitting. Not looking too closely at the girl, she cleared her throat. "Are you, alright?" When she did not get an immediate response, her brow furrowed in confusion and she looked down at the girl.

Hunched over in the chair, breathing heavily, Dorrea flipped through her notebook with shaky hands. "Fine." She bit out breathlessly.

The Gryffindor girl crossed her arms and gave her a concerned look. "You're breathing like you ran a race."

"Or like you just- uh, never mind." Hannah whistled and stared at the ceiling at Ceru's glare.

"I said, it's fi-fine." Dorrea's fingers clenched the notebook.

"Well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Ceru looked doubtful at the girl's response as she shifted awkwardly.

"You both should talk." Zack walked up and stood behind Ceru, frowning at Dorrea's hunched over pose.

"Thank you for the ap-" the young snake winced and clutched the left side of her chest, "ap-apology. She stuttered out breathlessly, trying with all her might to appear normal.

"Jude…" Ceru said in a quiet and ominous voice, "How much muscle relaxer did you put in?"

All eyes snapped to Ceru, then back at Dorrea.

Frantically flipping through the notes with shaky hands, Dorrea winced. "I'm ch-checking n-now. I'm sure-" she took another deep breath, "it was the right amount."

Heather gave the small girl a glare. "You said this would be safe!"

"Um…well." Dorrea hunched inward and glared at her notebook. "I'm su-sure this is ju-just a si-side effect or som-mthing." She gave another small wince and tightened her small fist above her heart.

"Guys," the white-knight girl stared them all down, "we gotta get her to the hospital wing. Now."

* * *

A/N: Dramadramadrama~ And I lied, there is one more chapter to this arc. ; P


	11. Chapter 6: THE HEART

**A/N: Uwaaa, this is the last chapter for this arc. I hope everyone enjoyed it, even though it was wayyy more drama filled than the previous one. I can't express my gratitude for having such lovely companions, they are amazing people. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6: THE HEART

Heather is not known for her concern for others or kind heart, in fact it is rather the opposite. She is shrewd, brash, easily bored, and blunt. However, when she heard the words 'hospital wing' something gave a twang of worry in her chest. "Zack," her eyes snapped to attention, "get her to the hospital wing right now."

"Huh? Wait, why do I have to do it?"

The Hufflepuff girl grabbed the front of his shirt and shook him a bit. "Because you are a giant. Now grab her and run. You'll hopefully get there before we can."

"Okay, okay." He held out is arms to Ceru who at some point had picked up the smaller girl in her own arms. Dorrea fidgeted while being transferred between the two lions.

"I'm *huff* not having *huff* a heart *huff* attack."

Calmly, Zack pressed two fingers below her chin to take the young girl's pulse.

"Then you are having a palpitation. Not shut up, we are taking you to the hospital wing." Ceru gave Zack a fiery look. "Zack, go now."

He nodded and ran out of the room, attempting to question Dorrea on the way.

"Jude, did you _just_ use a muscle relaxer?"

"Er, well, I mixed it with a few other things…"

"What other things?" He asked in an impatient tone.

The small snake mumbled between deep breathes.

"I need to know what you used or I won't be able to help when we reach the hospital wing." He scolded her.

Dorrea's head slumped against his chest, her eyes closed as her face paled and took on a sheen of sweat from her rigorous breathing.

"Geez, this girl is going to be the death of me." The tall lion grumbled and picked up his pace.

Bursting into the hospital wing, he set her down on one of the hospital wing beds, taking her pulse again. A few moments later, the rest of the group burst through the doors. Ceru stepped forward and shouted for the nurse while the others stayed out of the way near the entrance.

"I'm fine *huff* take me *huff* back." Dorrea tried to push Zack's fingers away from her neck with her shaky and clammy hand. He swatted her hand away and gave her a stern look. Motioning to Ceru to watch her while he spoke with the nurse, the two Gryffindor's switched places.

Zack stood some ways away and appeared to be trying to explain the situation, gesturing with his hands. Following right behind the nurse, they walked over to where the young pureblood heiress was laying. Asking her a series of questions to determine her health, the girl's eyes fluttered as she tried to stay awake. Her replies consisted of "I'm fine" and "nothing wrong" and "just tired".

"Liar." Ceru's eyes flashed angerly and gave Dorrea a stone cold glare.

Flinching and clutching her chest again, she gulped. "My ch-chest feels heav-vy, I feel like I ca-can't breathe, a-and my muscles hurt."

"Merlin, Jude, you gotta stop doing this." Zack shook his head and conversed with the nurse. Taking out a syringe and a small bottle, he filled up the needle with the fluid and flicked it with his finger. Ceru's face turned a bit green at the sight.

"Oi *huff* wh-what are *huff* you *huff* doing?" Dorrea's breathing picked up and her face remained pale with a sheen of sweat.

"Mending what you did to your body." Zack answered in a flat voice as he rubbed a cotton ball coated in alcohol on the girl's arm.

He pressed the needle into her arm with steady hands and a focused look.

She hissed and clenched her eyes shut.

"Zack…" tears weld up in the corner of her eyes, "that hurts…" Dorrea whined.

"Well don't be stupid next time." He kept his concentration on emptying the needle's contents.

"At least take it *huff* out easier." She pouted.

"I'm healing you, not playing dolls." Zack took the needle out of her arm as she winced. "That will clean your body out of toxins. You should feel better soon." He stood up from his crouched position next to her and sat on the edge on her bed with his arms crossed.

The young girl's body slumped and relaxed into the bed as the medicine did its work. The older Gryffindor took the forums from the nurse's hand and filled out some of the paper work and he handed it back to the medi-witch.

"I…" Dorrea's breathing mellowed out and the sickly complexion of her skin faded, she stared up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for the trouble, it won't happen next time."

The occupants of the room gave a collective sigh.

"No more potions Jude. The medical department cannot justify another empty flask of that healing potion." Zack scolded her.

"What?" Her eyes fell from staring at the ceiling towards the boy sitting on her bed. "My family can pay for another one! I can't stop researching this!" She gave the boy a glare.

"No Jude, or else I will have to report this."

"Agreed, I won't hesitate to inform Kian Amery about this." Heather approached the bed with her arms crossed.

"Fine, I won't ask for your help next time." Dorrea's gazed attached to the ceiling again.

"You're lucky I was here, Jude." Zack frowned.

Her eyes narrowed at the ceiling. "Well, I am certainly not stopping my research."

"Then you are at the very least going to have someone look through your calculations first." Surprisingly it was Ceru who voiced this opinion.

"No, Ceru, this is much too dangerous." Heather argued.

"I will tear apart her notes if she continues." Zack added.

"Guys, stop antagonizing her. Ultimatums won't work. I want her to stop as well, but she's obviously not going to listen. If we shut her down like this, she's going to do them in private; and then she will defiantly be in danger." Ceru gave a frustrated look.

"Sorry, Ceru, but this could have affected all of us in a bad, bad way. If this happens again I am telling her Head of House." The Hufflepuff put her hands on her hips in a final manner.

Through the arguing came a small voice.

"I'd rather die than continue living like this."

Silence.

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Ceru gave an angry huff and stood up from her seat next to the young snake's bed. "I'm gonna get some air." She crossed the room towards the exit.

"Ce-ceru!"

The Gryffindor paused at the sound of her name, she turned and observed Dorrea in the hospital wing bed. Her hair was ruffled all over the place, she had bags under her eyes, pale skin, an overall look of misery in her eyes. Sighing, Ceru put a hand on her hip. "Yeah?"

Dorrea fidgeted with the blanket on her lap, her eyes looking around at the others in the room. "I, um, I feel like I owe you an explanation…." Her gaze fell to the wall directly behind Ceru.

Ceru nodded and slowly returned to her previous seat next to the girl's bedside.

"Um, well," Dorrea bit her lip and looked at the others in the room, "could I tell… just you?" Her eyes fell to the blanket in her lap, face flushing from the uncomfortableness of the situation.

Turning to face the others, Ceru gave them a look.

A collective shrug of the shoulders came from the small group as they exited the hospital wing.

* * *

Leaving the two girls to talk it out, Zack grumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets as both he and Heather walked side-by-side towards the Room of Requirement.

"Well, that was awkward." Heather announced in a bored voice.

"Meh, I don't find it awkward." He shrugged.

"Well I do."

"Why?"

"That's your girlfriend, Black. If that's how you want to let your lady act, fine. But I'd be pissed if Dee was locked in the hospital wing talking about them feels with someone else."

Zack shrugged. "Well, Barnes, I allow her to do anything she wants as long as I'm around."

"Allow her to?" She raised an eyebrow. "She isn't something you own…"

"You know what I meant." He sighed.

"You two have the most 'effed up relationship ever." The Hufflepuff grumbled.

"What? Why do you say that?"

"Seriously, you have to ask?" She scoffed. "I don't want to cut you deep or anything, but any fool can see you still want Flourish."

He paused mid-step. "What?"

Heather stopped and turned to face the boy with her eyebrow raised. "As if you don't know."

"I have no feeling for Flourish."

She gave an impatient huff and crossed her arms. "Anytime we are talking about Amery and Sam, you get all broody and pouty. Sound like jealousy to me." Heather huffed.

"I'm not jealous. I simply don't like him, nor his attempts to 'be the best' at everything." Zack continued walking, passing by the Hufflepuff. "I have better things to do than stand here and discuss whatever this is."

"Mhm, I'm sure you do, Black." Heather remained standing where she was as she watched Zack walk down the corridor in front of her. Sighing, she turned and walked the opposite direction.

* * *

"So." Ceru pulled up the chair that sat next to Dorrea's bedside. She gave the smaller girl an expectant, but patient look.

With a gulp, Dorrea began to apologize. "I'm sorry, about yesterday and today. I, I… panicked." She picked at the threads on the blanket in front of her. "These, experiments are very important to me… and I rushed this one because of that panic. This is all my fault." Her eyes fell to her hands that rested in her lap.

"It's okay, I was a little rash myself. But, panicked? I don't understand…"

Dorrea fidgeted at Ceru's implied question. "Well…"

"Jude, I know these experiments of yours are important to you, but you need to understand that being safe is more important. You shouldn't be repressing your emotions anyway." The Gryffindor crossed her arms.

"But," her gaze rose from her hands to meet Ceru's eyes, "I…" Her eyes watered. "I'm afraid." She whispered as she let her eyes fall back down to her hands.

"Of what? Jude, emotions are nothing to be afraid of-"

"Yes, they are." Dorrea interrupted with a stern tone,

Ceru sighed. "Why do you think so?"

Dorrea fiddled with the blanket in her hands. "Well, emotions caused Zack to get himself almost killed," her hands ceased their fiddling and began counting off the reasons on her fingers, "they drove you to the hospital wing for days, I almost Crucio-ed you, and I was incapacitated yesterday by too many of them." Her hands clenched.

Ceru's eyebrows rose. "That's what you think? Emotions did that? Jude," she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "those weren't emotions that did all of that, those events happened because of a lack of common sense." She crosses her arms. "Zack just walked off because he didn't think, I got curious and overstepped by boundaries, and you got dosed with a potion and let your instincts take over. Which I already forgave you for by the way." She gave the girl a serious look. "This is about choice, not emotion."

Keeping her head down, Dorrea stayed silent as she glared at the blanket on her lap.

"Hey," Ceru tilted her head to appear in Dorrea's line of sight, "if you cut out all emotion, I won't have any connection with you. I value that connection."

Giving a small flinch and a clench of her small fists, Dorrea let out a sigh. "I don't like being out of control. It scares me." She whispered bitterly.

Straightening back up in her chair, Ceru smirked. "Then just practice control, mentally! You can't control your emotions with some chemicals in a flask." She rolled her eyes.

"It seemed easier." Dorrea pouted.

Ceru gave a chuckle. "Well, of course control isn't easy! It's not something you can just brew up nicely in a day."

The small snake's head lifted as she gave Ceru and contemplative look. "I suppose…"

"Look," Ceru moved to the edge of her seat, "you have to work at stopping yourself before you say hurtful things or do bad things. It's not a matter of chemicals, it's in here," she pointed to Dorrea's heart, "and in here," moving her finger to the small girl's forehead." Giving a smirk the Gryffindor chuckled. "It's not in any of those bottles, got it?"

Dorrea looked down at her own chest then up towards her forehead, tilting her head to the side in thought, she smirked. "That was very… how to the muggles say it? Ah, right, 'cheezy'." The pureblood heiress covered her mouth as she snickered.

Letting out a mocking huff, Ceru smirked along with Dorrea. "Well duh! I'm teaching you a life lesson, how else can I sound." She rolled her eyes as the small snake trembled in laughter. Dorrea clutched her stomach as she laughed harder, grinning wildly.

"Can I go on my adven- I mean, appointment now?" Ceru stood up from the chair and gave the girl an amused look.

"Hahaha! Saying that *laugh* with such *laugh* a straight face!" Dorrea continued to giggle.

"Well, you are obviously feeling better," Ceru put a hand on her hip. "Now if you will excuse me-"

"Ceru," Dorrea stopped giggling, wiping some tears of laughter from her eyes, "Ceru, thank you." Giving her a warm smile, Dorrea finally felt some stability returning to her.

Returning the smile with her own, Ceru leaned down and pressed a kiss to the girl's forehead. "See ya later."

Watching her white-knight lion stroll off to go Merlin knows where, to do who knows what, the small first year on the hospital wing bed couldn't help but give a fond smile and a wave before she snuggled into the blanket and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: AWEEEEEEE~ So sweet. Jude is still an ignorant twat, but I think Ceru is helping her become more human. Haha. Once again, thanks for reading!**


	12. The Arranged Marriage: Chapter 1

**A/N: Greetings! This next arc is going to be rather different from the last two, this one isn't inspired by an RP but of my own imagination. It is staring Dorrea, of course. I hope to get to know my other companions better in order to feel comfortable writing with their characters as protagonists. I'd love to receive prompts for other's characters if they want a story written about them! Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

The Arranged Marriage

Chapter 1: CONSEQUENCES

Although most would agree that Monday is the worst day of the week simply because the weekend was over, currently one young girl, who was curled up on a comfortable couch, would disagree. It was the worst day of the week not because she loathed attending classes, why would she when she was a top student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but instead because, as of today, she was engaged.

Yes, engaged.

For those that knew this girl, they would think that this was a ridiculous joke or rumor, the girl in question hardly believed it herself; yet, it wasn't a joke, it was the cold, hard truth.

For a Slytherin, the young girl had a rather warped sense of self-preservation; or perhaps it was her overwhelming pride that blinded her to possible dangers. She had been admitted to the hospital wing on Sunday evening due to a mishap in her most recent experimental potion, the mishap being a heart attack. The young snake had taken her experiments too far, and the Headmaster was alerted to the event by the Hospital Wing's medi-witch. As soon as the Headmaster was informed that one of his students almost perished within his school, he immediately alerted the girl's parents.

This in itself was not troubling to the young girl, she adored her parents. Being from a Noble and Ancient House, she grew up with familial pride and a fairly easy life. However, this time her parents would not be so lenient with her punishment.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking Dorrea?" The young girl's father scolded her as she sat in the lone chair in the Headmaster's office.

After breakfast in the hospital wing, she had been summoned to the Headmaster's office to discuss the events of the previous night. At first she assumed that she had been betrayed by one of her companions, but it was the nurse herself that informed her that she had reported the event.

Currently she was seated in an ornate chair in front of the Headmaster's desk, her parents towering over her to her left and an old man sitting behind the desk observing her with an inquisitive gaze.

"Father, I was just conducting an experiment." The young, pureblooded heiress straightened up in the chair.

"And _why_ did you feel the need to test it on yourself?" Her father's light blue eyes narrowed at her as he crossed his arms.

Dorrea fidgeted.

"It's quite simple father, the potion was meant to be attuned to my biological specifications. Attempting to administer the potion to another subject would have been futile as the calculations would have been off." Her voice held no regret and was steady.

"And what _exactly_ was this potion meant to do?" Her father pressed on.

This was not going to be easy.

She cleared her throat. "It was meant to bring balance to my emotional and physical state."

This time it was her mother that raised an eyebrow to that, her green eyes widening at her daughter. "Dorrea, dear, what do you mean?"

Fidgeting awkwardly, the young girl's gaze travel around the room in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

"Well, I have been having trouble with my emotional state… it's been in a flux of sorts around my companions and the like." Her voice, although steady, held an air of reluctance to it.

Her parents exchanged a look, and her father gave a huff.

"That is no excuse, Dorrea."

She looked up at her father with a frown.

"But, father-"

"No, Dorrea." He pinched the bridge of his nose in mild frustration. "Anyway, I'm sure the news we were going to inform you of over the winter holidays will bring you comfort now."

Dorrea tilted her head to the side, a habit of hers whenever she was curious.

"You won't need to worry about this emotional flux because we have arranged for you to be married."

_What?_

_Did she just hear that right?_

Her face must have shown her disbelief at the statement as her mother continued.

"You won't have to worry about those pesky crushes and whatnot now! You can focus all of your energy on your studies, isn't it a wonderful solution?"

She remained frozen.

"Honestly, Dorrea, a thank you wouldn't be too much to ask for." Her father scolded, bringing her out of her dazed stupor.

"I," she gulped, "I thank you, mother and father, for your assistance and the arrangement." Outwardly she appeared to be the perfect, respectful heiress, but inwardly her emotions and thoughts were storming around like a violent hurricane.

Her father and mother shared a satisfied look, nodding to each other.

"Now, we don't want to hear of any other mishaps such as the one that brought us here. You are our only heir and you have the responsibility of keeping yourself healthy and alive to continue the family."

"Yes, father." Dorrea whispered.

"Then we will be on our way." Her father straightened up and nodded to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. "Thank you for letting us make use of your office, Headmaster."

"It was no trouble at all, Lord Jude." The Headmaster stood from his desk and gave them both a nod. "Have a safe trip, Lord and Lady Jude."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Dorrea's mother gave him a small curtsy, than made eye contact with her daughter. "Dorrea, dear, we will introduce your fiancé to you over the holidays next week. We will see you then." She gave Dorrea a warm smile and, along with her husband, exited Hogwarts from the floo network in the Headmaster's office.

"Bye father, mother." The younger girl whispered as they left.

Standing up from the chair in front of Headmaster Balog's desk, she gave the man a curtsy and thanked him for his use of the office. He gave her a small smile in return and replied that it was no trouble. Excusing herself from his office, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

_Engaged?_

The word rang through her head like a death sentence.

She knew that this day would have come eventually, as it was common for pure-blooded families to arrange their children's marriages for either blood purity or political reasons, but she didn't think it would be this soon!

Her fist clenched and she bit her lip.

_Ridiculous._

Storming down the winding staircase from the Headmaster's office and through the corridors of her beloved school, she headed towards her kingdom; the Room of Requirement. Ever since she had somehow befriended a white-knight, Gryffindor girl on the first day of school, she had enjoyed having access to one of the most extraordinary rooms in all of Hogwarts.

It was in this room that she now sat, her knees pulled up to her chest in an attempt at comforting herself; which was a rare sight from her usual, perfectly straight posture.

_Engaged._

**_Engaged._**

_Ridiculous._

She curled up tighter and laid her forehead on the tops of her knees.

Mondays were the worst.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? I plan for this to be around 5 chapters maybe, since that is the usual length of the other ones. Meh, we will see. I wonder what kind of person Dorrea is engaged to? Oho~


	13. Chapter 2: RETURNING HOME

Chapter 2: RETURNING HOME

It was finally Friday, the winter holiday break had arrived. The castle was full of laughter and noise as the students were excited to return home to their families, well, most of them at least. This past week had been tortuously slow, and at the same time went by far too quickly for her liking.

Dorrea let out a heavy sigh.

_I wonder if I can fake being sick and just hide out here at Hogwarts?_

Shaking her head at her own thought, the young Slytherin continued to straighten up her space in the dormitories in preparation of her leave. With dramatic flair, she wrapped her winter cloak around herself and picked up a small bag full of her belongings.

_Let's get this over with._

Exiting the dungeons, she passed by the Great Hall on her way to the court yard.

"Jude!"

A voice behind her called out, she turned around and gave a twitch of her lip in a smile.

_Well, well, her very own white-knight. I wonder if she would save me from my evil captors. _

Dorrea chuckled to herself and set down her bag.

"Ceru, I trust you are well?" Dorrea had only recently switched from addressing the girl by her last name to her first, although the gesture wasn't reciprocated; in fact, it appeared as though her last name had become some sort of nickname for her.

Ridiculous.

The tall, red-headed girl smirked at Dorrea's formal tone. "Indeed." Ceru then gave a mocking pout and crossed her arms. "And just where did you think you were going without saying goodbye?"

"Ceru," the young snake rolled her eyes, "the holiday is hardly a long enough trip to warrant such an emotional farewell." Dorrea shook her head.

Throwing her arms up into the air in frustration, Ceru gave a heavy sigh. "Bloody pure-bloods and their annoying customs!" The Gryffindor chuckled.

Dorrea raised an eyebrow. "Yes, well, if it would please you," she picked up her bag and gave a small wave, "farewell."

Ceru stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips. "That's it? No hug?"

Flushing slightly, because of the cold weather-obviously, the young snake stepped forward so the older girl could embrace her.

Giving a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Ceru scooped the young girl up and twirled her around a bit before setting her back down.

"Must you always do that?" Dorrea huffed and tried to flatten down her now ruffled hair.

"Yes." The Gryffindor gave a smug look.

"Right," the pure-blooded heiress sighed, "see you after the holidays than."

"Bye!" Ceru waved and dashed back into the warmth of the castle.

Turning back towards her destination, Hogsmead, Dorrea walked forward alongside a few other students who, like her, were waiting for their parents to fetch them for a side-along apparition outside of the Hogwarts wards.

Recognizing two figures as her parents standing in front of the Three Broomsticks, she picked up her pace and gave them a small wave.

"Father, mother."

"Dorrea, dear, are you ready to leave?" Her mother brushed off some invisible dust from Dorrea's shoulder.

"Yes, mother."

"Let's be off then, it is rather cold out here." Her mother stuck out her hand and they apparated into the front hall of the Jude manor.

Immediately feeling warmer and more relaxed as they returned home, Dorrea's shoulders slumped in comfort. Shedding her scarf and cloak and handing it to a nearby house elf, the small girl excused herself to her room for the rest of the afternoon until dinner.

Flopping on her bed in an undignified manor, she let out a heavy sigh.

_Home._

It was the first time that she felt uneasy in her own home. After being surrounded by people all the time at Hogwarts, the solitude unnerved her. Turning over on her side and curling up she recalled the first time she went to Hogwarts, the first time she left her home.

All her life she had been practically a prisoner in her own home, no interaction with children her own age. Everyday was full of tutors and house elves, though it honestly didn't bother her because she didn't know any different; she assumed every family was like that. Additionally, based on the books she read, children seemed to be immature and messy beings; why would she be interested in that?

Her first day at Hogwarts had been, overwhelming. It was so loud, cramped and full of messy children just like she had expected. The most troubling thing was her difficulty in interacting with her fellow classmates, they were impossible! Loud, brash, rude, and seemed to have no sense of privacy; ugh, children. Even though she herself was only 12 years old, she didn't consider herself a child.

At the time, she would have given anything to have come back home to the solitude. But now, she somehow found herself missing it.

"Ridiculous." Dorrea whispered under her breath.

Curling up on her large bed, she slowly drifted of to sleep.

* * *

"Mistress," a squeaky voice woke the young heiress from her afternoon nap, "mistress, Lord and Lady sent Popsiey to call mistress for dinner yes they did." The house-elf known as Popsiey fidgeted and waited to be dismissed.

Dorrea sat up and rubbed her eyes, waving off the elf. "Yes, yes, I'll be down in a minute."

The house elf disapparated as Dorrea stretched and dressed herself for dinner, an heiress couldn't have dinner in her school uniform after all. Opening her wardrobe, she pulled out one of her favorite dresses and threw it on. Splashing a bit of water on her face, she exited her quiet room and headed down the stairs towards the dining room.

Her wavy dark brown hair bounced as she sauntered down the steps, her green, white, and gold dress fluttering around her. Putting a small smile on her face, she was glad to eat a meal with her family again; just the three of them.

Or so she thought.

Four.

There were four plates set out on the table.

Dorrea blinked and a confused frown wormed its way on her face.

"Dorrea, you must have been tired, resting all afternoon like that." Her mother entered the dining room from the adjacent sitting room.

"Yes, mother, I was. I am quite well rested now." The heiress hesitantly walked towards her spot, noticing the place across from her was set in anticipation for a guest. "Mother, are we having a guest?"

"Oh, dear, you didn't forget did you?" Her mother had a frown on her face, which turned into a warm smile. "I told you we'd introduce you to your fiancé over the holiday break, didn't I?"

_Oh._

_Right._

_Her, fiancé._

"Yes, mother, I recall. I had not anticipated our introduction to be this… hasty." Dorrea stared at the guest's chair with a tense posture.

"Well, no sense in wasting tim- Ah, that must be your father and our guest." Her mother crossed the room as she heard voices from the hallway.

Not moving from her spot, standing behind her chair, Dorrea took a deep breath.

"Dorrea, meet your fiancé, Aimres Carrow."

* * *

**A/N: Carrow? Surely not the family known to be avid supporters of the previous Dark Lord? Indeed, the very same. I wonder if Dorrea's fiance will be similar to his ancestors? **

**By the way, it is pronounced aim-res, like "****aim**** and shoot" and "****res**** like rest" without a 't'. **


	14. Chapter 3: HER BETROTHED

Chapter 3: HER BETROTHED

Tall, dark, and handsome would be the perfect words to describe Aimres Carrow. He stood with his shoulders drawn back and hands behind his back, a serene smile was pasted on his face; but his eyes were cold. Black, short wavy hair and endlessly dark brown eyes complimented the boy's fair skin and sharp facial features.

She disliked him at first sight.

Hesitantly she moved from behind the safety of her chair to stand next to her mother, her fiancé's mouth twitched in what appeared to be amusement at her hesitant nature.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Jude." As the perfect gentleman, he gave a slight bow and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Carrow." Responding to his greeting in flawless pureblood style, attempting to ignore the goosebumps running over her body.

Something about this man screamed danger to her.

Her father nodded in approval at the respectful exchange of greetings between the two of them. "Well, let us sit for dinner, shall we?" The head of the house gestured towards the dinner table behind them.

With a collective nod, they sat down at their respective places. The father at the head of the table, the mother to his left, the right seat empty, the daughter left of her mother, and the guest across from the daughter. Food appearing on their plate, the four of them ate in silence.

Once the meal was finished, they moved towards the adjacent parlor to converse and have coffee.

Dorrea steeled herself for battle.

Sitting in her usual spot on the antique loveseat, the young heiress looked to be calm, collected, and professional; the picture of prideful perfection. Her parents took their seats in their own armchairs, leaving the only seat open on the other side of her coach.

_Perfect._

She thought bitterly as she subtly moved as close to the armrest and away from her fiancé as possible, once again her action was noticed by Aimres; evident by the small smirk on his face.

After sitting in quiet silence for a few minutes as they all sipped at their tea and coffee, her parents finally stood.

"Well, I suppose we will leave you two to get to know each other." Her mother exchanged a sly smile with her husband, Dorrea stiffened.

"Dorrea, Mr. Carrow will be joining us for the next few days, so use your time wisely." Her father gave her a stern look.

"Yes, father." She dutifully responded.

"Lord Jude, I plan to take advantage of the time I have here, I assure you." The man next to Dorrea gave a smile.

_How ominous._

As the Lord and Lady of the house exited the room, closing the door behind them, the two pure-bloods sat on the couch in silence. Picking her cup of tea back up from the side table next to her, Dorrea decided to break the ice; she refused to be submissive.

"So, Mr. Carrow, would you care to tell me a little bit about yourself?" She idly sipped her tea as she watched him from the corner of her eye.

His posture changed from a straight back and his hands in his lap to a more relaxed pose, he crossed his legs, rested his cheek in his palm and rested the other arm on the back of the couch. He gave a wolfish grin, flashing his blindingly white teeth.

"Sure. I'm Aimres Carrow, currently a fifth year at Drumstrang, and have many hobbies."

She was engaged to a fifteen year old? Well, I suppose it could be worse since she was turning thirteen in the spring. Huh, that meant he was the same age as Zack. She relaxed slightly, if she could handle Zack, she could handle him.

Narrowing his eyes as she relaxed, she shifted again. Leaning towards her, he gave a pleasant smile. "How about yourself, Ms. Jude?"

Not shifting her posture at his change of distance, she continued to sip her tea. "As you know, my name is Dorrea Jude, I am a first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, though I am twelve not eleven, and I have many hobbies as well."

They remained even.

"Hm, when is your birthday?" His eyes flashed, something incomprehensible.

"Early spring." Dorrea revealed. Not wanting to be uneven in the exchange of information, she quickly asked a question of her own. "What are some of the hobbies you mentioned?"

That hidden smirk of his returned, he looked amused at her attempt to even the playing field. "Oh, most of them are rather obscure." Aimres gave a challenging stare.

Tch. _Ridiculous._

"Hm, is that so? I wonder if that means they are unnatural or not well known." Her green eyes narrowed as she set down her tea cup on the side table, turning her head to face him directly.

The Carrow heir's smirk turned into a feral grin. "Curious?"

She remained silent, that dangerous feeling nagging at her again. It was time to change the subject. Standing from the couch, she put a few feet of space between them. "How long are you staying for, Mr. Carrow?"

A low chuckle from him made the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge. "My family and yours arranged for me to stay or a few days."

Her eye gave a small twitch. She already knew that. Keeping her voice as patient as she could, she asked again. "Will you leave before or after Yule?"

Aimres gave the girl a contemplative stare, assessing whether or not it would benefit him to tell her of his departure date. Not hearing a reply, the young heiress turned to look at her fiancé.

"I will be departing the day before Yule." He gave her an amused look.

5 days?

Okay, she could do this.

"I see. Well, I hope your time here is pleasant." Dorrea curtsied to him, indicating the conversation was over; for now.

"Oh, I think it will be."

She shut the door behind her.

How ominous.

* * *

**A/N: What a mysterious fellow! Dangerous, or just creepy? **


	15. Chapter 4: THE 5 DAY BATTLE

Chapter 4: THE 5 DAY BATTLE

Thank Merlin Yule was tomorrow, Dorrea didn't think she could take one more day of being around Aimres Carrow; he was driving her crazy. These past few days had been the most challenging days of Dorrea's life; it seemed that every time the two young people interacted it was like an all-out war. Despite being a Slytherin that prided herself at being cunning and clever, Dorrea had never been so out matched in exchanging verbal blows. The Carrow heir was immensely clever, Dorrea could barely keep up.

One more day of this, she could do it.

"Ms. Jude, Good morning."

She sighed. _Here we go again._

"Mr. Carrow." She plastered a strained smile on her face and turned away from the bookshelf that she was examining. "Good morning to you as well. I trust you slept well?" Her gaze returned to looking through the books in the library; it was just the two of them in the room.

"Very well, thank you." The tall boy stalked silently towards the bookcase that the young girl was browsing through. "Your family's library is quite lovely, an impressive array of books." Aimres' eyes scanned the book titles; he absently pulled a seemingly random book from the shelf.

"Thank you, I have been steadily adding to my family's collection with books from our travels." She looked for the book she brought back from her last trip to Russia, spotting it in front of the Carrow heir, she reached for it. "My most recent addition is this one," Dorrea slipped between the taller boy and the bookshelf, "I got it in Russia, it's a fascinating book about ru-". Turning around and looking up from the book, she realized what position she put herself in.

Aimres Carrow.

Salazar, the boy was good.

He had the most unnatural, and unnerving, ability to exude danger one minute than absolute relaxation the next. She had unconsciously labeled him as someone safe and forgot to keep her distance from him.

"Ah, excuse me." Dorrea stepped back against the bookshelf and diverted her eyes, moving sideways she halted as a hand blocked her path.

The Carrow heir had trapped her by putting his right arm above her shoulder, leaning against the bookcase behind her, and by tilting his back towards the left.

Dorrea raised an eyebrow and clenched her fist, eyes blazing in frustration. Keeping her voice steady and calm, she tilted her head to the side. "Can I help you with something?"

A smirk graced his face. "Possibly."

She remained silent, waiting for his next move. His eyes roamed over her face, then down to her shoes and back up again. Dorrea's eyes narrowed at the action.

"If there is nothing, than I will take my leav-"

"Dorrea."

The pure-blood heiress stilled. He used her first name, for the first time this whole week he had called her name.

_How ominous._

"Yes?" Not showing how effected and unnerved she was by the sudden change of address, she looked him in the eye.

His eyes flashed in amusement, it was like he was watching a fish bump into the glass walls of their bowl; fooled by the invisible barrier into thinking they were free. His left hand slowly raised and twirled a piece of her hair, chuckling as the young girl's eyes flashed in furious anger. "Dorrea, I find myself at a loss of what to do." He idly twirled the girl's silky hair as he sighed.

Raising an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side, she frowned. "Oh?"

"Mh," he hummed absently, "Indeed." He gave a smirk.

Her eye twitched. _How on earth could someone be so frustrating! Why did he have to be so ambiguous?_

"Are you always this cryptic?" Dorrea bit out.

His smirk widened into a feral grin.

Ah, crap. She cracked first.

This game that they had been playing the last few days had essentially been this conversation over and over; Aimres would say something cryptic or push her buttons and Dorrea would have to keep a level head or else she would lose. Well, that how she saw the game anyway.

"Ah, um," she diverted her eyes and clenched her fist, "apologies, that was rude."

"Hm, it was, wasn't it?" He sounded smug, finally able to make her crack.

Dorrea's eye twitched at the tone of his voice. _Merlin he was annoying_.

Continuing to twirl a piece of her hair he looked contemplative. "How should I have you make it up to me?"

_Excuse me?_

"I'm afraid I don't understand, I already appologi-"

"Hm, I suppose you did… I'll let you off, for now." He dropped the piece of hair he had been twirling and stepped away from the bookcase. "I can always have you make it up to me later." Aimres gave a sickly sweet grin.

Dorrea's eyes narrowed as she grit her teeth to stop the nasty words that were threatening to spill out from her mouth. "I see." She pushed herself off of the bookshelf she had been pinned to, not wanting to seem submissive.

"See you at lunch, Ms. Jude." He patted her on the top of her head like a puppy and turned on his heel to walk out of the room.

She remained stunned at the action. Watching the tall boy exit the library she stumbled back to lean on the bookcase.

_What was that?_

Salazar, she couldn't figure out a pattern to his behavior at all! One minute he was all fake and polite, the next he looked like he would skin her alive, than he treated her all sweet? She shook and scratched her head in frustration. Sighing heavily, she slide down the bookcase and sat on the floor.

Picking up the book on runes she had pulled out, Dorrea opened the book and lost herself in the words.

"One more day, that's it." She whispered to herself.

* * *

Lunch was an uneventful affair between the four residents in the house, as was the afternoon stroll through the picture gallery in the Jude Manor. It was dinner and after dinner that proved to be challenging for the young heiress.

"So, Dorrea, dear, how has this past week been?" Her mother asked innocently as she cut into the steak fillet in front of her.

Her fork stilled at the question, she lowered her hand and took a sip of water. "It has been an interesting experience, mother." Dorrea's hands fell to her lap and she gave her mother a small smile.

"Wonderful, and Mr. Carrow, have you enjoyed your stay here?"

Dorrea's gaze fell on the Carrow heir sitting directly across from her, looking away when his eyes met hers. She picked up her fork and speared a carrot on her plate.

"Like Ms. Jude said, it has been an interesting experience Lady Jude." The smile he gave was full of amusement. Dorrea inwardly grimaced when he gave her a knowing smirk. "In fact, I am rather reluctant to leave such a wonderful atmosphere. Perhaps I should discuss transferring to Hogwarts next fall."

A loud clatter echoed through the room.

The young girl's fork fell from her hand and clanged on her plate, Dorrea's eyes widened at the boy's statement.

"Dorrea." Her father's voice broke through her stupor.

"Ah, my apologies." With a gulp she picked up her fork and set it to the side of her plate.

Turning back to the young man, Lord Jude gave an approving look. "We would have to discuss that with your father, but it sounds like a perfectly reasonable idea."

_Perfectly reasonable?_

"I'm sure I could convince him, he always thought that Drumstrang was rather far away from our home."

"Indeed, it is far! Your mother must worry about you."

"It must be difficult commuting there and back, even with apparition-"

Dorrea slowly tuned the other's conversation out; her mind was in a haze. This was moving far too quickly, being engaged to someone you wouldn't have to see except for holidays was one thing… but seeing her fiancé every day at school? She didn't think she'd survive, she'd break under his constant gaze for sure.

"What do you think, Dorrea? Dorrea? Dear, are you listening?

Her head snapped back up, the three were staring at her. "Yes mother, I was simply lost in thought at the idea of having Mr. Carrow at Hogwarts. I wonder what house he would be sorted into?" She gave a small laugh as she clenched her fists under the table.

"I can't imagine anything besides Slytherin!" Her father exclaimed proudly. "Your family and ours have a long history of being in Slytherin, well, a few Ravenclaws here and there on our family tree, but mostly Slytherins."

Dorrea's heart sank. Indeed, there was no other house she could see Aimres being sorted into; the man was like the personification of a snake.

"Excuse me, I feel tired. I think I am going to rest for a bit." She stood up from her seat and curtsied, fleeing from the room in a seemingly calm manor.

"Rest shortly dear, Mr. Carrow will be leaving this evening."

"Yes, mother." Dorrea called out behind her as she headed up the stairs to her room. Shutting the door behind her and leaning against it, she let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes.

_*Knock Knock*_

Her eyes snapped open at the sound. It wouldn't be her parents; they left her alone whenever she excused herself. That meant that it could only be-

"Ms. Jude, may I come in?"

* * *

A/N: Bum bum bummmmm! The next chapter will be the last for this arc. I hope you've enjoyed a closer look at Dorrea's character, especially her home life.


	16. Chapter 5: STALEMATE

**A/N: Last chapter for the "Arranged Marriage" arc! It's rather short, all of my creative energy was spent yesterday! XD**

**I hope you enjoyed a look at Dorrea's character~**

* * *

Chapter 5: STALEMATE

Dorrea's breath hitched involuntarily, as she shut her eyes tight.

_Why is he here?_

Pushing herself off the back of her door, she turned on her heel to face the entrance to her room. Taking a deep breath and taking a few steps backwards, she hesitantly called out.

"Come in."

As if she was in some sort of bizarre muggle horror movie, her bedroom door slowly and eerily creaked open. Closing the door behind him, her enemy leaned against the back of her door in a relaxed pose. The two of them stared each other down, waiting for the other to respond. Finally, Aimres let out a sigh and began examining his fingernails in a bored fashion.

"I couldn't help but notice your adverse reaction to my suggestion, Ms. Jude." His eyes didn't leave his hand, but his voice took a cold tone.

"Oh?" She gulped as silently as possible. "My apologies if it seemed that way, it was just, um, rather sudden." Dorrea gave a forced smile, her hands clenched behind her back.

"Hm," the tall, dark-eyed boy's gaze raised from his fingernails to the girl in front of him, "I see. So you have no qualms about my transfer to Hogwarts?" Pushing himself off the back of her door, he gave a goading grin.

_Tch. How was she going to get out of this?_

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Dorrea averted her eyes.

"Hm? Do elaborate," slowly stalking forward, he gave a mocking smirk, "what exactly are you afraid of?"

The young girl's eyes snapped back to him with a fierce look. "I'm not afraid of anything." She grit her teeth.

"Then there should be no reason for me not to attend your school from now on." Aimres stopped in front of Dorrea, sticking his hands in his pockets; a couple of feet separated them at most.

With a slight twitch of her eye, she forced a smile. "What about your schooling? I'm sure the curriculum is different from Hogwar-"

"I'm sure it won't be too difficult to adjust."

"What about your frien-?"

"They will find a way to carry on without me."

"What about the weather? It will be difficult to adjus-"

"Are you forgetting that I am from England, the same as you?"

_Tch. There has got to be something!_

The pureblood heiress took a contemplative stance as she attempted to come up with any other excuse, her fiancé remained standing in front of her with a smug look on his face. Muttering under her breath rapidly, she gave no notice to the hand that was reaching towards her hair. Feeling a finger twirling a strand of her hair around, Dorrea stilled.

She looked up at the infuriating boy in front of her with her eyes narrowed; his smug look was still plastered on his face.

_What an irritating face._

Aimres let out a sigh. "What _am_ I going to do with you?" He stepped forwards, invading her personal space.

"I could say the same." Dorrea took a step backwards, tilting her head away from the hand in her hair.

The air was frigid and tense, the two of them stood on a frozen lake with thin ice; cracking beneath their feet with every step. Neither willing to submit to the other, both of them refused to even blink. The silence seemed to go on forever, until Aimres' hand dropped from the young girl's hair.

"I will see you again soon, Ms. Jude." Aimres gave an amused smile as he turned and exited her room.

Watching the door close, the young girl muttered and glared. "Hopefully not too soon."

An ominous chuckle was heard outside of her door, fading as the boy walked down the hallway.

_Ridiculous._

She flopped on her bed, still in her dinner clothes, and squeezed her eyes shut as exhaustion and frustration gave way to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Yeahhh, not the most dramatic thing, but they are young so there isn't much heavy creepy stuff they can get into. Plus, the two of them are much more of a verbal-sparring kind of pair. *shrugs* As I said before, this is the last chapter for this particular arc. I might make a sequel later in the future if I get inspired, but for now the next story will be "Ceru in Wonderland." Bye~**


	17. Ceru in Wonderland: Chapter 1

**A/N: The new arc has begun! This time, I am trying my hand at writing for Ceru's character. Hopefully it will go alright. _**

* * *

Chapter One: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

It was a quiet November afternoon when all of the students seemed to be either packed in the library chattering away or in the corridors rushing here and there; Ceru Fairwater found herself not wanting to do either of these activities. This semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been the most amazing and exhausting year she had ever had!

In fact, just a few days ago she and her friends had been on a quest that turned out to be seriously weird, their promiscuous Slytherin friend Hannah Sofie had been 'kidnapped' because she had fooled around with someone's girlfriend; oh, Hannah. So, needless to say, she needed a break.

Heading up to the seventh floor, being mindful of the changing staircases, Ceru made her way to the Room of Requirement; or "our kingdom" as the little first year snake called it. Hopefully she could find some peace and quiet to either work on her studying, end of the semester exams were just around the corner, or take a short nap.

Pacing back and forth in front of a blank wall, suddenly an elaborate door appeared in front of her. Ceru opened the door and slipped into the room, shutting it quickly behind her to avoid unwanted eyes finding their hang out room. Letting out a sigh of relief as she heard nothing but silence, the red-headed Gryffindor made her way across the room and flopped on the couch in the middle of the room.

Glancing around the room from where she laid, Ceru couldn't help but smile at all of the little quirks the room had that fit all of her friend's personalities. The café-like table that fit Jude's 'posh' attitude, the bar that provided constant nourishment for Kyle and Hannah's black hole-like stomachs, cushions on the floor for when Zack rolled around, and a bookshelf for Sam and Kian's Ravenclaw-ness. Many other trinkets scattered the room; a teacup, a sketchpad, a stack of empty plates, ink pots and quills, and empty bottles on the floor from their constant Spin-the-Bottle games.

Feeling surrounded in comfort, Ceru's eyes began to droop. Blinking once or twice with heavily lidded eyelids she began to drift off to sleep. After all, there was no one around except her and a rabbit.

Wait.

_What?_

Sleep immediately leaving her, she sat up on the couch and blinked dumbly at the sight before her. _Is that… a girl in a bunny suit, drinking a cup of tea?_

Noticing that the lion had woken up, the small girl in a white rabbit costume tilted her head to the side in a curious fashion. Ceru stood up from the couch and approached the girl; quite a Gryffindor trait, act first think later.

"Excuse me?"

The rabbit-girl looked up from her teacup and gave the girl a bored look. "Yes, what is it?" Her voice droned on as if humoring an impatient child.

"Um, what are you doing here?" Ceru ignored the tone in favor of finding out what on earth was going on.

Sighing, the rabbit-girl lifted up her teacup in a gesture. "Afternoon tea, obviously." She rolled her eyes and set down her now-empty cup.

"Isn't it a bit early for that?" When Ceru had entered the room, it had only been half past ten o'clock in the morning.

"Of course it isn't-" Halting her annoyed speech, the rabbit girl suddenly jumped onto her feet and pulled out a pocket watch. "Merlin! I'm late, I'm late!" The girl scampered off down a hallway and through a red door.

"Hey, hey wait!" Not wanting to miss out on this mystery, and perhaps wanting to teach that little girl how to properly speak to those older than her, Ceru dashed off in a very Gryffindor-like manor down the hallway and threw open the red door.

_Has this door always been there?_

Ceru wondered to herself briefly before dismissing it as unimportant. As she stepped through the door, her foot hit empty air and she felt herself falling into a dark, deep hole in the ground

"AHHHHHHH!"

Deeper and deeper she fell, she began the look around her for something to stop her fall. This tunnel was rather strange, it was full of random objects that could be found throughout Hogwarts; portraits, goblets, cauldrons, broken wands-

_Her wand!_

Mentally smacking herself on the forehead for forgetting she was a fifth year witch, she rummaged through her robe pockets.

_Eh?_

_Where is it?!_

Swearing under her breath, Ceru frantically searched for anything to grab onto as the floor came closer and closer. Below her, sticking out of the side of the tunnel, was a broomstick! Positioning herself in order to grab onto it, she gritted her teeth and yelled.

"Ahh!"

Her eyes widened in relief as she just barely managed to grab onto the broomstick's handle, the girl dangled in the air. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Ceru looked down at the ground to see how far she was away from it.

_Huh?_

She was only hovering a little over a foot away from the ground. Laughing in relief, Ceru let go of the broomstick handle and gently hopped down onto the ground.

"Well, that wasn't so hard." Looking around the bottom of the tunnel, she observed that there was only one hallway. "I guess I am going this way then." Her shoes clacking on the black and white tiled floor beneath her feet, the red-headed lion strolled down the corridor. At the end of said corridor, there was yet another red door. Shrugging, Ceru opened it and entered a barren room.

Closing the door behind her, she gave a frustrated huff.

_There are no other doors or hallways in sight, so where did that weird rabbit-girl go?_

She whipped her head around as she heard the sound of a door closing, but the door she had stepped through to enter the room had vanished.

"What the-"

"Teeheehee~" A giggle came from somewhere in the room.

Turning around and around, she looked for a door. There wasn't any sign of a do- wait, was that it? Crouching down, Ceru's expression turned to that of disbelief as she saw a tiny portrait of a teenage girl with black hair and fancy looking clothes giggling at her.

"Um, excuse me, what is so funny?"

"Why, you of course!" The girl in the tiny portrait grinned and giggled some more.

"Right, uh, could you tell me if you've seen a small girl in a bunny suit around here?"

"Yes, I c_ould_." Smiling, the teenager remained silent.

Seeing that the portrait wasn't going to elaborate, Ceru sighed and rolled her eyes. "_Will_ you tell me?"

"Oh, very well." The tiny girl put her hands on her hips. "You are no fun anyway." Flipping her long, black hair over her shoulder, she continued talking. "The White Rabbit passed through my doors not too long ago; if you hurry you might be able to catch her."

Looking around the portrait, Ceru frowned. "I don't see any door- Oh! You must be like the Fat Lady who guards the Gryffindor tower. Do you need a password or something?"

"There is a password, but before that you will need to do something about your size. You are much too big."

"I don't have my wand-"

"Never mind that, do you see those cauldron cakes on that table over there?" The tiny portrait pointed behind her.

_When did that table get there?_

"One of those will make you big, and one of them will make you small."

Nodding at the girl's instruction, the Gryffindor girl stood and walked over to the table on which the two cakes laid. Picking them both up and inspecting them, she turned around and decided to ask the portrait which was which.

"How should I know? I'm stuck in this frame all day." The teenage girl gave a huff and crossed her arms.

Ceru shrugged and bit into one of them, instantly she felt herself shrink. Staring up at the portrait, which was now bigger than her, she grinned. "Now what?"

"The password is determined by the one who is passing through my door, so I will ask you a question. If you answer from your heart, then I will open. If not, well," the portrait grinned, "I'd not lie if I were you."

Clenching her fists, Ceru nodded. "Okay."

"What is your life worth?" The portrait gave her a serious look.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ceru's brow furrowed in confusion.

"It means exactly what I asked, what is your life worth?"

Honestly appearing to be at a loss to the answer of the question, the red-headed girl clenched her fists. "I-I don't know."

Looking down at the girl, the portrait gave a look of disbelief, anger, frustration, sadness and pity. "I see. You may enter, but think on the question throughout your time here." Swinging open like a door, it revealed an archway that led to a bright meadow and cool forest.

Ceru nodded warily, then began to step through the archway. Halfway through, she turned back and asked the painting, "Wait, 'here'? Where is 'here'?"

Hearing a giggle as the door closed behind her, Ceru could make out the closing words of the portrait.

"Why, Wonderland, of course."

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it! The first chapter! Depending on how long I make each chapter, this will probably be one of the longer stories that I plan on writing. Next chapter: Inquires and Grins**


	18. Chapter 2: INQUIRES AND GRINS

**A/N: This chapter is rather long, since I am introducing three characters in their own scenes rather than in one big scene. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2: INQUIRES AND GRINS

Hearing the door behind her close, Ceru turned to face the path in front of her. It was a beautiful, glittering meadow and in the distance there seemed to be a vast forest. If it wouldn't be so cliché, she would have said that the place looked magical. While appreciating the amazing scenery, the red-headed lion strode down the path that led through the tall meadow.

Still being in a shrunken size, the world around her looked so different. Tiny blades of grass now seemed like large trees, and the flowers around her now resembled stain-glass ceilings as the sunlight shined through the colorful petals. Absently the girl wondered to herself what Hogwarts might look like if she was this small, would she see things that had never been seen before?

While wondering what it would be like to be small all of the time, Ceru's gaze wandered. Spying something shinning in the distance, she squinted.

_I wonder what that is?_

Picking up her walking pace to a small trot, the freckled girl realized that it was a small bubble reflecting the sunlight. Curiously following the short trail of bubbles off of the path, she found herself looking up at a great mushroom.

"Excuse me, is someone up there?"

Ceru called out to whoever was sitting on top of the mushroom. While tilting her head this way and that, trying to get a better look, she spied a small ladder-like blade of grass. Without any hesitation, she being a Gryffindor after all, Ceru climbed up the stalk of grass and jumped onto the top of the mushroom.

In front of her was a large, blue, soft armchair that was covered in pillows and blankets of the same color. Approaching the lump of blue, she noticed a bit of light brown hair sticking out from underneath the blankets; the same place the bubbles where coming from. Clearing her throat, she tried to catch the attention of whoever it was.

"Sorry to wake you up, but I was wondering if you'd seen a girl in a rabbit costume?"

The mountain of blue pillows and cushions shifted as a rather handsome looking boy popped his head out, a pipe sticking out of his mouth which seemed to be the source of all the bubbles. He gave her a blank stare. "It's rather rude of you, you know."

Blinking at the rather blunt tone, Ceru crossed her arms. "Excuse me?"

"It's rather rude not to give your name when you are introduced, therefore you are not excused." As if reciting it from a dictionary, the boy sat up further from behind the blue lump and adjusted the pipe in his mouth.

"Fine. My name is Ceru, Ceru Fairwater." The red-headed girl put her hands on her hips and introduced herself in an impatient tone.

Scoffing mildly, the light-haired boy pulled out what looked like a tan file folder. "Yes, I _know_ who you are. I know everything."

"What? Then why did you ask?"

"I didn't ask for your name, I simply addressed the fact that you didn't give it."

_What the heck is up with this guy? Narcissistic twat. _

"Right, well," Ceru sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "If you know everything, then have you seen this girl in a rabbi-"

"Hm, it says here that you have a 'white-knight' complex?" He flipped through the file and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Huh? Uh, I don't know, I guess." The Gryffindor girl gave an uncomfortable shrug.

The boy responded by giving a curious hum. "I see, and it also says here than when facing other people's hidden monsters you jump into action, but when it comes to your own you run." He took a deep breath from his pipe and exhaled a stream of bubbles. "How curious."

Ceru clenched her fists and shot the boy a glare. "How on earth do you know that? And what is this about my own 'monsters'? I don't have anything like that."

Chilly laughter erupted from the light-haired boy's mouth. "If you say so, little lion." He slumped back and pulled the blue covers over himself.

"Hey, wait! You didn't answer my questi-"

"The White Rabbit passed through here, and went that way." After sticking his hand out from underneath the mountain of blue cushions and pointing in a seemingly random direction, he retreated back into his blue, fluffy cocoon; a light stream of bubbles continued to float out from the blankets and pillows.

Seeing that that was all she was going to get out of the strange, lumpy, caterpillar-like boy, Ceru climbed down from the mushroom and headed in the direction the boy pointed her.

* * *

Grumbling under her breath, Ceru found herself already on the other side of the meadow and at the entrance to the forest. Strolling far beneath the canopy above her, she eventually found herself standing at a crossroad. Looking for some sort of sign, thinking maybe there was a map to the rabbit-girl's house or something, her gaze fell on a post full of arrows far above her. Squinting, Ceru couldn't make out any of the words because it was so far away.

Suddenly a crumb fell from above her and bonked her on the head. Jumping at the sudden feeling, Ceru noticed it was some sort of bread crumb; she looked up to find the source of it.

A thin girl with messy black hair wearing a green and silver striped jumpsuit with black cat ears and a tail was lounging lazily on a tree branch, appearing to be eating some small cakes.

Raising an eyebrow at the sight, Ceru called out, 'Excuse me!"

The cat-girl yawned and continued to eat. "Hm?" She looked down at the small, red-headed girl.

"Could you tell me which way the," _what did the caterpillar-like boy call her…ah! That's right_, "the White Rabbit went?"

Grinning slyly, the cat-eared girl chuckled. "I _could_."

Recognizing a pattern, Ceru sighed and tried again. "_Will_ you tell me?"

"Puurr-haps." Licking the crumbs off her fingers and grinning, the cat-girl seemed to be in a constant teasing mood.

Tapping her foot impatiently, Ceru gave the girl an expectant look. "Well?"

"Hm~" The silver and green striped girl suddenly disappeared from the top of the tree branch. Ceru looked around her nervously as a voice drifted around her. "I can help you, if you give me what is in your pocket."

"My pocket?" Ceru looked down at her skirt pocket and spotted a lumpy shape.

_Huh? When did that get there?_

Pulling whatever it was out of her pocket, Ceru's eyes widened at the sight of the other cauldron cake from earlier that she didn't eat.

_Maybe this one could make me bigger so I could read those street signs!_

The Gryffindor said in a clear voice, "Sorry, but I think I need to eat this one. I could bring you a different one later?"

Popping out from behind a tree trunk, the cat girl eyed the cake in the girl's hand hungrily. "I want that one."

Unconsciously taking a step backwards, Ceru quickly bit off a piece of the cauldron cake and swallowed. Growing back to her normal height, she looked around for the cat-girl who seemed to have disappeared again. Sighing, her gaze fell in the post that held about a dozen arrows pointing in every direction.

After inspecting every one of the arrows, she found she could only make out a couple of names on them; unfortunately the other signs had been damaged or had nonsense written on them.

"Well," the red-haired girl sighed, "it looks like I'm either going to be heading to some mad man's house or to a swamp." Turning right, she set off down a dirt path that led deeper into the forest. "Mad man it is, then."

* * *

About five or ten minutes into her travel down the path, she heard some sort of arguing. Turning left and right, looking for the source of the unhappy noise, Ceru left the dirt path in favor of wanting to help whoever was arguing.

Stumbling from behind a bush, the red-headed girl came face-to-face with what appeared to be fraternal twins; both had clear Asian features, black hair, and fair skin. The two stopped mid argument as they observed a new addition to their group.

"Oh? Who are you?" They both asked in unison.

Brushing the leaves and dirt off of her uniform, Ceru gave them both a smile. "Ceru, Ceru Fairwater." Sticking out her hand to them for a handshake, they both grabbed different hands and shook them at the same time.

"Nice to meet 'cha!" Greeting in unison, they let go of Ceru's hands to introduce themselves. "I'm Tweedle Dee," the girl pointed to herself. "And I'm Tweedle Dum," the boy pointed to himself.

Chuckling lightly at their antics, Ceru gave them a smile. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but it sounded like you two were arguing about something?"

Immediately they turn their backs to each other and crossed their arms.

"Hmph! It is all his/her fault!" Even when arguing, they seemed to act in unison.

"What were you arguing about?" Ceru took a seat on a nearby log.

"Well, first it was about which one of us was prettier-"

"Then it turned into which one of us was more popular-"

"Then which one of us was stronger-"

"Faster-"

"Luckier-"

"Alright, I get the point." Ceru put her hands up in a placating manor.

The two twins shared a look, than quickly turned away from each other.

"Well, that is how it started-"

"But then, it turned into which one of us would save the other if something bad happened."

Ceru frowned and motioned for them to continue.

"I argued that since I am the boy, I would save her-"

"But I am the older one, so it is my job-"

"By only a few minutes!"

"So what? Older is older!"

Standing up from the log she was sitting on, she moved between them. "Guys, guys, stop. You are both wrong!"

They turned from arguing with each other to facing the red-headed girl, giving her a frustrated look.

"Oh?" They both questioned in unison.

In a seemingly wise tone of voice, like she was imparting great knowledge to them, Ceru put a hand on her hip. "Instead of thinking who would save the other, you should work together to solve the problem and keep each other out of dangerous situations in the first place. Plus-" she paused and gave them a smile, "if one of you sacrificed themselves for the other, it would make the survivor sad, wouldn't it?"

Looking at each other, they nodded and turned back to the red-haired girl with an unusually serious look. "Then you should keep that in mind too." Advising her in unison, they wrapped an arm around each other's shoulders and strolled away from her; deeper into the forest.

"Huh?" Ceru watched them leave with a confused look on her face. Sighing and shrugging, she turned around and found the dirt path she had been previously walking on before. "What a strange place."

* * *

**A/N: Oh Ceru, do you get what everyone is trying to tell you yet? XD This chapter was an interesting challenge when writing Kian(catterpillar) and Kyle/Kylie(Twins) characters. I mainly focused on the phrase 'narcissistic twat" in relation to Kian, and more logically manipulative when it came to Kyle's characters. *shrugs* Hopefully I didn't do too bad. Next chapter: The Tea Party!**


	19. Chapter 3: THE TEA PARTY

**A/N: Woah. Super long chapter. o_o ! There are a bunch of characters in this one, I wonder if you can guess them all?**

* * *

Chapter 3: THE TEA PARTY

While idly strolling down the dirt path she had chosen, the red-headed Gryffindor began to hear some sort of music coming from up ahead. Picking up her pace, she followed the sound of the music and found herself in front of a white picket fence.

_This must be where the mad man lives… Strange, a white picket fence seems rather normal._

Walking along the fence until she reached the gate, Ceru pushed open the door and looked around. Since there was no one in sight, she entered the garden area and followed the sound of music. As she passed a rather large hedge, a beautiful scene laid in front of here.

A large, chiffon canopy fluttered in the slight breeze over a large table that was covered in a pure-white table cloth. Elegant tea cups and pots were laid out on the table alongside trays and tiers of all sorts of pastries. Bouquets of vibrant colored flowers decorated the table, looking and smelling so good they might be mistaken for candy. Letting out a small gasp at such a stunning sight, Ceru then turned her attention to the people sitting at the table; she was equally as stunned.

Sitting at the right of the head of the table's chair, sat a man with tanned skin and long, layered hair. He was quite tall, and the large top hat on his head added another foot to his height. Dressed in colorful, but tasteful clothes, the man both gave off an air of being carefree and of nobility.

Across the table from the man in the hat, sat a younger looking boy wearing a bow tie and a bowler hat. His hat was also quite impressive, though it was quite different that the other man's hat in that it seemed to have rabbit ears sticking out of it for decoration. Judging from how he was conversing with the girl next to him, he seemed rather conflicted; from what Ceru could see, he looked to be torn between enjoying the conversation and being solemn.

The lady the rabbit-eared man was talking to, was quite animated in the way she gestured with her hands and seemed to express every emotion in a vibrant way. Smiling and laughing, the girl also looked as though she was trying to move past something sad as well.

Despite all of the music and laughter, a red-headed girl, wearing a headband with what looked to be mouse ears on them, appeared to be fast asleep on the table. Sitting across the table next to the man in the top hat was that cat-girl from earlier.

Stepping out from behind the hedge, Ceru confidently walked up towards the tea party. Looking up from their tea cups and plates of deserts, the people at the table gave the girl a curious look; the man in the top hat waved his hand and the cheerful music stopped. Standing in front of the end of the table, Ceru introduced herself.

"Afternoon, I'm Ceru, Ceru Fairwater." She gave a small, slightly clumsy, curtsy in response to the formal atmosphere of the party.

Standing from his spot at the right hand of the head of the table's seat, the man in the top hat strolled around the table towards the red-headed Gryffindor. Smiling, he gave a small bow in return and kissed her on the cheek "They call me the Mad Hatter; it's a pleasure to meet you."

Flushing slightly, Ceru nodded and continued. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but I'm looking for someone."

Resting his hand on her lower back, the Mad Hatter led her towards the other side of the table where the others sat. "You aren't interrupting at all! In fact, you could say we were waiting for you!"

"Waiting, for me?" Ceru gave a confused look.

Gesturing to the head of the table's seat, the Mad Hatter smiled. "It appears so; we were waiting for someone to fill this seat you see."

Eyebrows rising at being offered the most important seat at the table, she looked around at the others who didn't seem to have a problem with it; in fact, you could say they could care less since they were focused on conversations with each other and eating.

"Alright…" Ceru hesitantly sat down in the ornate chair.

Once she sat down, the man in the top-hat stood at her right and tapped a fork to a glass goblet to get everyone's attention. Hearing the ringing, the conversations died down.

"Friends," the Mad Hatter cleared his throat, "our guest of honor has finally arrived!" The boy in the bowler hat and the vibrant lady to his right both clapped politely, the girl in the cat-suit threw a piece of food at the mouse-eared girl to wake her up. Blinking absently, and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, the girl then joined in on the clapping.

Flushing slightly at such a warm welcome, Ceru gave the others at the table a smile.

"Let us continue with this, the grandest tea party in all of Wonderland!" The Mad Hatter grinned and gestured to the table in a grand manor.

"Hatter, I thought that's what you said about the one last week." The vibrant girl with curly born hair grinned slyly, the boy in the bowler had gave her a playful shove and a 'shh' motion with his finger to his lips.

"Yes I did!" The Mad Hatter laughed. "It's simple; every tea party with friends is the grandest in all of Wonderland." Smiles graced everyone's faces and the music started back up again.

Sitting back into his chair at the right-side of the head of the table's chair, the man in the top-hat smiled at Ceru as he rested an arm on the back of her chair. "Would you like some tea?"

Returning the smile, she nodded. "That was a wonderful speech." The Gryffindor girl complimented him as he poured her a cup of tea.

"It is easy to say things that are true, but then again it is also hard to say things that are true. Wouldn't you agree?"

Giving a confused look, she took the cup from him and blew on it to cool it down. "Um, sure."

_And now I am starting to see why his is called mad._

Humming along to the music, he gathered up a few small desserts on a plate and placed it in front of Ceru. Thanking him, she set down her tea cup and grabbed a silver fork. About to spear the chocolate covered strawberry, suddenly her plate was snatched away.

The cat girl began eating all of the snacks on the plate, smirking at the girl playfully.

"Hey!" Ceru pouted.

"The Cheshire Cat is known for her never ending stomach and mischievous nature." The Mad Hatter gave a chuckle and gave Ceru and thoughtful look. "You must have denied her food earlier for her to take it from you now."

"What? No, I di- ah, that." The red-headed Gryffindor remembered eating the cauldron cake instead of giving it to the cat earlier; she gave a huff and eyed the stack of plates next the cat girl, it was around ten now. Recalling the event with the Cheshire made her remember what she was doing here in the first place. Turning back to the man in the top hat, Ceru asked him, "Oh! Right, have you seen a girl in a rabbit suit?"

Giving a surprise look, then a wide grin, he chuckled. "The White Rabbit you mean? Of course, she was here earlier in fact." Absently he rested a cheek on one of his hands, propping his elbow up on the table.

"You have? Can you tell me which way she went?" Ceru smiled with excitement, thinking she could finally track that girl down and go back… where as she supposed to go back to again? Shaking her head in an attempt to forget that particular train of thought and focus on the rabbit, she stared at the Mad Hatter.

"Hm…" The man in the top hat tapped his finger on his lips in thought, than he gave the girl a sly grin. "I will, if you play a game with us."

Deflating a bit, she sighed.

_Figures it wouldn't be that easy._

"Alright, what kind of game is it?"

Standing up elegantly from the table, the Mad Hatter walked around and stood behind her chair. Gesturing to the others at the table in a grand manor, he announced the game. "Friends! Our most esteemed guest wants to play a game with us!" The others at the table turned to the Hatter with grins on their faces.

"I didn't say _want _to play…" Ceru muttered.

"Which game will it be, Hatter?" The boy in the bowler hat looked up at the Hatter with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, I hope it is _that _game, Hatter." A slightly cruel sounding laugh came from the vibrant girl.

"_That_ game, huh? _That _one is rather fun…" The Hatter gave a contemplative look.

Looking at all of the grins at the table, Ceru warily asked, "Um, what game is tha-?"

"Hatter," the Cheshire interrupted. "Are you sure _she_ can play? I've heard she is one of _those_ kinds of people."

"Excuse me, what do you mean by tha-"

"Ah, one of _those_ kinds of people, huh? Well, it should make the game even more fun than!" The mouse-eared girl interjected with a giggle and a happy clap of her hands.

"Now that we are all in agreement, let's play _that_ game." The Hatter snapped his fingers and returned to his seat.

"Um, what is going on?" Ceru frowned and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the Mad Hatter. Receiving nothing but another grin, she gave a frustrated huff.

Several tea cups popped in front of them, beautifully crafted from what appeared to be black onyx. On the side of each cup was a question mark painted in white, rather ominous looking to be honest.

"Right," the Hatter picked up his cup and made a 'cheers' motion. "Everyone knows the rules, so I will begin."

"Wait, wait! I don't know how to play." The Gryffindor girl raised her hands in a confused gesture, deepening her frown.

The Mad Hatter raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you, though?"

"Wha-"

"This game is _that_ kind of game." The Cheshire grinned.

"Like I said, what kind of ga-"

"A game of-" The bowler hat man grinned.

"Life and-" The vibrant girl grinned.

"Death." The mouse-ear girl gave her a serious look.

Ceru's eyes darted to the black tea cup in her hand and slammed it down on the table, rising from the table in a frustrated manor. "You've got to be joking!"

"Nope," the Cheshire Cat stuffed another piece of cake in her mouth. "We joke on Wednesdays, today is Friday."

"Sit down." The man in the top hat rested his hand on her lower back and gestured to her seat with the other hand. "You want to know where the White Rabbit is, don't you?"

Ceru bit her lip and slowly returned to sitting in her chair, she gave a huff and crossed her arms. "Well? How do you play then?"

Nodding in approval, the Hatter explained the game. "One of these goblets is full of something unpleasant," his eyes twinkled in mischievousness, "and the rest have something pleasant."

"And we don't know which one is which?" Ceru asked warily.

"Yep! We go one at a time, rather than all at once."

Clenching her fist, she slowly nodded. "Alright. I'll play."

_It can't be that bad, right? Life and death was just a joke, right? _

"I'll go first then." The man in the bowler hat raised his cup and gave a 'cheers' motion, downing his drink in one gulp. Since nothing seemed to be happening, the others at the table motioned for the girl next to him to go next.

"Cheers!" Smiling brightly, the girl with the wavy brown hair downed her drink in one gulp as well. Waiting for a few moments, nothing seemed to happen.

Yawning, the red-headed girl wearing a mouse-eared headband gave a 'cheers' motion with her own cup and downed it in one gulp. Once again, nothing seemed to happen.

Ginning wildly, the Cheshire licked her lips and gulped down her own drink. Nothing happened.

Exchanging looks with the Hatter, Ceru looked down at her own cup. "Um, what exactly do you mean by 'unpleasant'?"

"Hm? Ah, poison of course!" Giving her a smile, he gave a 'cheers' motion to the Gryffindor girl.

"What?! Wait a second!" She reached out and snatched the Mad Hatter's cup out of his hand. "This is mad!"

The others at the table looked at each other with curious looks on their faces. "So?" They all questioned in unison.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get out of this, she poured the Hatter's liquid in her own cup. At the action, the man in the top hat's eyebrows shot up.

"Why are you doing that?"

Ceru looked at him like he was crazy. "You really are mad, I'm not going to let you kill yourself with this!" She gestured to the cup.

"And you will let your self be?"

"Of course!"

The music stopped, silence rang through the air. The others at the table all exchanged looks with each other.

"Um, I mean, er, well…" Ceru gulped at the uncomfortable atmosphere.

The Mad Hatter reached his hand out to take the cup from her, which startled her into dumping the liquid all over her Hogwarts uniform.

"Gah! My clothes!"

Chuckling, the Hatter stood from the table and the atmosphere changed back into a carefree party. "Well! That won't do! Ladies?" He gave the girls at the table a wink, as he snapped his fingers a large box labeled 'dressing room' appeared.

Smirking to each other, the three ladies hopped from their seats and dragged the red-headed Gryffindor girl into the room. A few moments later, they pushed her out of the door wearing a completely different outfit.

Wearing a long red dress with a white apron, large puffy sleeves, ribbon around her neck, and frilly underskirt, Ceru's face was flushing a bright pink color. "D-don't you have anything else?"

"Cute!" Cries from the members of the tea party chimed together.

Behind the crowd, the man in the top hat was gaping at the sight. Pushing past his companions, he cleared his throat and moved his gaze up and down her figure. "Ah, there is a speck of dirt right here..." He reached out and brushed some imaginary dust off of her chest.

Flushing, Ceru tried to punch him for touching her chest.

Dodging the fist easily, the Mad Hatter gave her a smile and ruffled her hair. "For being so cute, I think I will tell you how to find the White Rabbit."

Ceru looked up at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Mm hm! Aren't I so nice?" He chuckled. "The White Rabbit said something about being late to the Queen's court. You will probably find her at the Queen of Heart's castle." The Mad Hatter pointed to a path on the other side of the garden.

Giving him a strained smile, Ceru thanked him. "Thanks!" She waved goodbye to everyone else at the table as she took off running towards the path. "Bye everyone!"

Hearing cries behind her of 'goodbye' and 'come again', Ceru strolled down the path the Mad Hatter pointed out to her at a quick pace. Finally, things were looking up!

* * *

**A/N: Well? Could you all guess who the people at the tea party were? Next time: THE QUEEN'S COURT**


	20. Chapter 4: THE QUEEN'S COURT

**A/N: The last two characters will be introduced in this chapter. Chapter five, the next one, will be the final chapter of this arc. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4: THE QUEEN'S COURT

Ceru, the now clad-in-frills-Gryffindor, let her thoughts wander as she continued down the path towards the Castle of Hearts. She absent mindedly fiddled with her apron as she reflected on the game she was tricked into.

_What kind of idiot drinks poison knowingly? Honestly, the people here are crazy._

These kinds of thoughts coming from her were rather ironic, however she paid it no mind at all. In fact, she quickly brushed the thoughts of the tea party out of her head and started to focus on meeting the queen.

_I wonder what kind of person she is? Probably kind, since she is the Queen of Hearts._

Coming face to face with a large gate, Ceru looked through the bars and tried to spot someone. Sighing as she couldn't spot anyone, he red-headed adventure seeker looked for another way in. Along side of the walls surrounding the castle, there were long vines that looked sturdy enough to climb up.

Making her way over to an area covered in thick vines, Ceru grabbed ahold of the green ropes above her and began to climb. Finally reaching the top of the wall, she brushed a bit of sweat that had accumulated on her forehead away. Turning her gaze towards the Castle of Hearts, her eyes twinkled in wonder.

_It is beautiful!_

Tall white towers and marble columns made the castle seem like it was taken right out of a painting. It was, no doubt, a fairytale castle. One of the things that struck Ceru as a bit odd was the fact that the hearts around the castle were not in red, but in blue. In fact, all of the flowers and statues were in colors of blue, white, and bronze.

Shrugging, Ceru began her climb down the other side of the wall.

"Gah!" Her foot slipped on a vine branch and she was sent tumbling off the wall, landing on her butt. "Ow…" Standing up from the ground, rubbing her sore lower back, she looked around cautiously to see if anyone had spotted her.

_This wasn't breaking and entering, right? Besides, I'm sure the castle is a public place! Right?_

Weakly justifying her rather peculiar entrance, Ceru cleared her throat and brushed off some of the dirt on her dress. Strolling through the gardens of blue and white flowers with bronze leaves, she found herself wanting to pick on of them.

Squatting down so she was face-to-face with a couple of the flowers, she tentatively reached out a hand to pick one of the white ones. Just as her fingers were about to grab hold of the flower's stem, a voice yelled at her.

"Excuuuuse me! I know I am sexy and irresistible and all, but you can't just touch me as you please you know."

Whipping her head up from the flowerbed, Ceru's eyes darted all around her in search of the voice.

"Ahem," an impatient voice came from below her, "down here."

The red-head's gaze fell back down to the flowerbed. Curiously narrowing her eyes, Ceru hesitantly asked. "Um, excuse me, but where are you?"

"Right in front of you, of course! How could you not notice this fabulous body of mine?" And annoyed huff came from the flower she was about to pick.

Her brown eyes widened in an almost comical fashion as she realized the flower was talking to her. "Oh, uh, sorry." Ceru gaped in disbelief. She was talking. To a flower. A _flower_.

"Yes well, be more careful next time. Just because you have a nice rack, you don't see _me_ trying to cop a feel." The flower almost seemed to huff in an annoyed fashion.

Flushing a bit, Ceru quickly stood up and apologized again before setting off towards the castle.

_Well, that was… odd._

Climbing up the front stairs leading up to the castle doors, the Gryffindor girl kept her eyes open; both for guards and in search of that weird rabbit-girl.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she heard a voice cry out from within the castle. All thoughts of keeping her presence a secret flew from her mind as she heard a voice in need. Grabbing the handles of the castle doors, she flung them open and burst into the room.

The inside was just as impressive and magical as the outside. There was a magnificent chandelier hanging from the tastefully painted ceiling, the floors were pristine marble. A grand staircase led from the entry hall to every floor of the castle, and, presumably, to the room from where the voice had called out from.

Not seeing a soul in sight, Ceru raced up the first set of stairs that placed her in front of an elaborate set of doors on the second floor. Without hesitation, she flung them open and strolled confidently into the room.

The room she found herself in was similar to those television crime shows that she used to see her parents watching, except this was on a much grander scale.

"And who are you?" An elegant, but slightly haughty voice called out from the throne in front of her.

Ceru's brown eyes fell upon a gorgeous, blonde queen; she assumed it was the queen because the woman was sitting on a throne and wearing a crown. She wore an elaborate dress of blue, white and bronze with small details and silhouettes of hearts.

The Queen raised an eyebrow at the lack of response from the red-headed girl.

"Oh, I'm Ceru. Ceru Fairwater, your majesty." She gave a small curtsy and a hesitant smile.

"I see, and were you called as a witness?"

"Witness?" Ceru's perplexed look quickly turned to an embarrassed horror as she realized that she had just interrupted what looked to be a very important trial. Her eyes fell on everyone that she had just met at the tea party, sitting throughout the audience. Then, seeing a flash of white next to the queen, she spotted the white rabbit on the queen's left; the girl appeared to be taking notes.

"Ceru!"

Hearing her name called out by two voices, her head snapped to the bared platform that an identical boy and girl were standing on.

"Tweedle Dee! Tweedle Dum! What, what is going on?" Ceru jogged across the room towards them, only to be stopped by the Queen's commanding voice.

"So, are you a witness or aren't you? Speak, or I will cut off your head." The blonde's icey blue eyes flashed dangerously.

Ceru gulped and looked at the twins from the corner of her eye, she nodded and stood up straight. "Yes, I am a witness." Agreeing to be a witness, even though she had no idea what was going on.

"Then come and take your place at the witness stand." The Queen of Heart's gestured to the platform in the center of the room.

Crossing the room, Ceru climbed the few steps up onto the platform. Standing in front of a podium, she tried to give an air of confidence to cover her nervousness.

"Your majesty, what have they been accused of exactly?" The women in blue, white, and bronze sighed and waved her hand at the girl in the rabbit suit.

Standing up from the chair on the Queen's left, the White Rabbit pulled out a scroll and began to read off of it in a bored tone. "The Tweedle Twins are accused of plotting their own deaths to disrupt the peace which our queen has upheld throughout the kingdom; the charges are conspiracy to commit treason." Rolling the scroll back up, the girl sat back down in her chair.

"What?!" Ceru's eye flashed angrily at the twins.

"We are innocent! We swear!" The black-haired twins defended themselves in unison. "We were discussing which one of us would save the other if worst came to worst, but-" the brother started to explain as his sister cut in. "Ceru came along and explained that it was a bad idea because-" her brother chimed in as they said the last phrase in unison. "Leaving the other behind would make the other sad."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Ceru sighed. "_That_ is what this is all about?"

The Queen of Hearts gave a contemplative hum, than pierced Ceru with an icy gaze. "You are the one who gave them this… advice?"

"Yes," Ceru sighed, then quickly added. "Your majesty."

"Hmm, are you are an expert on the subject?"

"What-"

"Can anyone here stand witness to this girl's qualifications?"

A hand rose from somewhere in the stands. Ceru sighed in relief, then grimaced when she realized who it was; that weird caterpillar-like guy.

"Your majesty, this girl does not have the qualifications. Her file is extensive on the subject of how unqualified she is." The handsome, light-haired boy droned on in a haughty tone.

Ceru gaped and was about to tell him _exactly_ what she thought of his file, when another hand raised from across the hall.

"I also have evidence of her unqualification," her brown eyes snapped to the voice; it was the Mad Hatter! "She tried to poison herself at my tea party." The surrounding members nodded in agreement with him.

"Now wait just a secon-"

"Your majesty, I also have relevant evidence." The voice came from a portrait on the wall; it was the girl that was guarding the door from earlier! "When asked the question from the heart, she had no response."

"Hm, and what was he question?" The Queen's eyes narrowed.

Ceru felt her heart drop.

"What is your life worth?" was the question, your majesty."

"I see." The queen's cold gaze fell on the red-head, then trailed over to the twins. "You two made go, you were obviously mislead into such actions by this girl." She pointed her manicured finger at Ceru. "You will now stand on trial."

"What?!" Bars circled her on the podium. "On what charge?" She bit out incredulously.

"No self-worth."

* * *

**A/N: Oh dear, poor Ceru. Hopefully she will keep her head... Next time: THE LESSONS WE LEARN**


	21. Chapter 5: POSTPONED

**A/N: Greetings! Due to lack of inspiration and character shuffling, the "Ceru in Wonderland"story has been postponed! Look out for other upcoming stories in the near future! ^ ^**


	22. Sweaty Situations: Chapter 1

**A/N: Here we go! This is Hannah's character story, I hope ya'll like it. : 3**

Chapter 1: THE SWEATY LETTER

It was an average morning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for Hannah Sofie, surrounded by food; her stomach has been compared to that of a black hole in that she can eat copious amounts of food and never tire. Today the tall and messy haired Slytherin has decided to indulge in a hearty breakfast of waffles, pancakes, muffins, fruit, toast, cereal, and coffee.

While consuming her breakfast, she made small conversation with a couple of the other Slytherin girls across the table from her. Halting their conversation was a flock of owls delivering the morning post; Hannah scanned the air for her family's owl in case there was a letter from home. Not spotting the brown spotted owl of her family, she continued on where she left off; girls and food.

After a little while, the Great Hall began to thin out as students finished their breakfasts and headed off to class. Still working on the mountain of food in front of her, Hannah gave a small wave to the girls that were leaving. As she was about to take a huge bite of waffle covered in syrup, she felt a small poke in her back.

Setting down her fork, she turned to look over her shoulder to see who it was. Giving a small smirk, Hannah stuffed the waffle piece into her mouth and greeted her guest.

"Jude, what brings you down to this side of the table this morning?" Hannah chuckled as she spied Dorrea Jude's grimace at her lack of manners; eating while talking.

"Ugh, swallow then speak Hannah; it's dreadfully improper." The short little snake huffed and gave her an annoyed look.

Hannah shrugged and continued eating. Hearing a sigh next to her, she raised an eyebrow for Jude to continue to explain her presence.

"Anyway, I don't have time to correct your eating habits, I was told to give you this." Jude stuck out a letter in front of Hannah with a slightly disgusted look on her face.

"Hm?" Hannah took a sip of coffee and took the note from the younger girl. "What's this?"

Rolling her eyes, Jude replied. "It's a letter, obviously."

Ignoring the sass from the little first year, Hannah flipped it over, inspecting it. "Why was it given to you?"

"Because," Jude's eye gave a small twitch of irritation, "some people have got the idea in their heads that I am your messenger owl." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot in annoyance.

Hannah gave a small short as she continued to inspect the letter. "Not my fault." Jude let out an annoyed huff in response.

"Apparently," Jude continued, "it is some sort of love letter."

Hannah raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"I didn't open it." Jude deadpanned. "Some sweaty boy came up to me after the owls flew in this morning and made me take it. Rather disgusting creature…" She grumbled.

"A boy?" The messy haired Slytherin gave an incredulous snort. "Does he even know who I am?"

Jude gave her a confused look. "Obviously, why would he write a love letter to someone he didn't even know?"

Rolling her eyes, Hannah opened the letter. As she was beginning to read it she noticed Jude standing up on the Great Hall bench next to her, trying to read it.

Hannah shrugged, not really caring. "Well, this should be fun." She mumbled before she began to read.

_You eat with such vigor, so full of life and bright like the sun_

_Though your flower has already been picked, I would like to cherish it with my bare hands_

_Your eyes sparkle like the brightest of diamonds_

_You are my world, my universe, my life_

Hannah sat in her place, just staring at the letter incredulously.

She burst out laughing.

"Oh my god! Hahaha! I like how he put "life" after world and universe, as it his life was bigger than the two." Hannah turned to see what the first year snake's reaction was; all she got was a look of concentration and confusion.

"Picked flower?" Jude crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Is he mentally unstable? You're a person, not a flower bed."

Hannah shook her head and grinned. "Oh honey, you got a lot to learn."

Jude frowned in a sort of pout. "Is this another muggle-like thing? Like… what was it… 'muffin munching', right?" She tilted her head to the side curiously.

Hannah clutched her stomach she was laughing so hard, she stood from the table. "Something like that." Grabbing her bag next to her, she gave Jude a small solute and jogged off to her first class; chuckling ringing through the corridors.

**A/N: And that is part one! This will maybe be 2-3 parts? Next chapter is: The SWEATY BOY**


	23. Chapter 2: SWEATY BOY

**A/N: Here is chapter two, we get the first look at sweaty-boy's interaction with our favorite snake, Hannah~!**

Chapter 2: SWEATY BOY

It had been a couple of days since Hannah had received the supposed 'love letter' from her anonymous admirer and she hadn't heard anything since. The boy hadn't given her little messenger owl, Jude, any information in order to contact him or really anything useful, so she had spent the past couple of days in a state of boredom.

Strolling into the Room of Requirement, her and her friend's usual hang-out spot, she spied the little Slytherin pureblood at her usual spot drinking tea; typical. Tossing her bag on the floor next to the plush couch she proceeded to flop on, she gave a loud, content sigh as she relaxed. Closing her eyes for a bit and resting her hands behind her back, she took a deep breath.

Hearing the rustling of papers and scratch of a quill, the tall Slytherin girl cracked an eye open and glanced at the first year snake.

_I wonder if she is working on another experiment…_

Feeling Hannah's gaze on her, Dorrea Jude looked up from her papers and raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

Hannah gave a shrug and pulled out a bag of snack mix from the bag she had tossed next to her.

Stretching her arms above her head and tilting her neck this way and that, she gave a sigh; in need of a break. "Hannah", she called, "how did things turn out with the sweaty boy?" Dorrea gave an amused grin; the nickname she had given the boy had really stuck.

Hannah snorted. "I haven't talked to him yet. Well, he never told me who he was in the letter." She gave a shrug. "Did you get a good look at the kid?"

Dorrea tilted her head to the side in thought and gave a hum. "Hm, I think he was a Gryffindor? Tall-ish, but probably shorter than you. He looked like a stereotypical Quidditch jock, obviously not to bright. And sweaty," her lip twitched in amusement, "from what I can recall." She inspected her nails absently. "I'm sure he will contact you again eventually, or not. Not really my problem." Dorrea stilled and gave a frown. "Unless he tries to use me as an owl again because someone didn't contact him." She narrowed her eyes and gave a pointed look at Hannah.

The messy haired Slytherin gave a small smirk. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Jude rolled her eyes and returned to scribbling on her papers, Hannah closed her eyes and continued her snacking.

* * *

Friday rolled around before any new development in the "sweaty boy love letter" situation came about.

Walking out of her O.W.L charms class, Hannah was stopped by a Gryffindor boy blocking her path. She raised an eyebrow at the boy and gave him a once over.

He was shorter than her by a few inches and quite muscular, defiantly from playing quidditch; possibly a beater judging by his arms. The boy had rough, sandy-blonde hair that was cut very short and dull hazel eyes. Judging by his minimal, and pale, stubble, Hannah guessed he was around her age, maybe older. The last thing she noticed that confirmed her suspicions was…

He was sweaty.

Well, not drenched in sweat like from stepping off the field, nor was it like he had a fever or some sort of ailment… was it nervousness? The Slytherin girl couldn't really tell why, but he seemed to have a constant sheen of sweat on his forehead, neck, and hands.

"Can I help you?" Hannah adjusted her bag on her shoulder and gave him a blank look.

The boy gave a poorly hidden nervous squirm and fell into an obviously false confident posture; a Slytherin notices these things.

"You got my letter, right?" He had a semi-deep voice, probably intentionally deepened to make himself appear older, with a hint of pre-pubescent scratchiness.

Hannah's mouth twitched in a hidden, amused smirk. "Letter? Oh, this one?" She fished the letter out of her bag and held it up in front of the boy, watching his eyes widen.

"You kept it with you?" His voice went a pitch higher as his eyes glittered in hope and desire.

_Ugh. Not the best start to rejection…_

"Well, I had to have some way to identify the sender." She purposely gave a bored sort of tone, wanting to reflect her zero interest in him.

Deflating a bit, he quickly bounced back and gave her a supposedly 'seductive' look. "Well, what did you think?"

Hiding a grimace, she gave him an almost pitying look. "Look," she sighed, "you do know who I am, right? My reputation, I mean."

"Of course, you're one of the most energetic and well-shaped girls at Hogwarts." He beamed.

_'__Well-shaped'?_

"Well-shaped?" Hannah raised an eyebrow and gave him a look to explain himself.

"Your body," he looked her up and down, wetting his lips. "Everyone knows is smoking hot-"

"Er, thanks? I-"

"It's perfect to bear children!"

_Excuse me?_

She gave a disbelieving and awkward cough. "Look," she ran a hand through her short, chopped hair in annoyance, "you do know I like girls, right?"

He crossed his arms and waved off the statement as nothing. "I know, but that's because you haven't met me yet." The quidditch lion gave a smug look.

_Wow… yep, that letter defiantly came from this big-headed bladder. _

Hannah stared at the boy with a blank look on her face, hiding the irritation and partial amusement at this whole situation. Sighing, she adjusted her bag over her shoulder again. "Right, well, unless you grow boobs and get rid of the dick, nothing is gonna happen here, so, move along." The taller Slytherin moved to walk around him and head for the kitchens to get some food.

"Wait! Didn't you see my arms? My biceps?" The boy called out behind her.

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, Hannah's head was soon filled with possibilities of food.

**A/N: A short little interaction, I got to figure out how to write this boy more irritating and macho. XD**


	24. Chapter 3: SWEATY ENCOUNTERS

**A/N: Super excited to be posting this chapter! I got hit with inspiration after a long awaited, one-on-one RP with my favorite snake, Hannah. ^ ^**

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Chapter 3: SWEATY ENCOUNTERS

* * *

The fireplace crackled under the Black Lake in the Slytherin common room that evening, the students dressed in green were spread out across the room studying for the upcoming O.W.L. exams. One such student was lounging on the couch in front of the fireplace with a Charms textbook held above her head, although she appeared to be studying she was actually counting the stones on the ceiling above her; in a state of boredom. The teenage snake gave a sigh and her gaze slowly moved across the room; landing on various objects in the room before landing on the girl sitting next to her.

"Hannah, you do know that the ceiling isn't going to help you study for the Charms exam, right?" Dorrea Jude, the first year Slytherin, was sitting in the large, black arm chair and idly flipping through a large book about Constructing Wards.

The older Slytherin girl gave an irritated huff. "Neither will this book." She sat up from her lazy position on the couch and closed her book. Resting her cheek on her hand that was propped up on the armrest, she smirked as the younger snake rolled her eyes. "So," she crossed her legs and leaned into the couch comfortably, "I met the douche."

Not looking up from her book, Dorrea, after translating Hannah's slang, gave a hum of acknowledgement. "Oh? He finally approached you?"

"Yep, he was even sweatier than the letter he gave me."

"Ugh, gross." Dorrea grimaced and turned a page lazily. Pausing, she looked up from her book and tilted her head to the side in thought. "So, did he turn out to be a Gryffindor?"

Hannah nodded. "Yes. A sweaty lion with an ego ten times bigger than himself." Her face contorted into a mocking rendition of her secret admirer, her voice took on a tone of an imbecilic barbarian. "Wait! Didn't you see my arms? My biceps?!" Chuckling to herself, she reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of ginger newts.

Dorrea gave a smirk at the girl's impression. "Didn't he say he considered himself larger than the universe in his note?" She rolled her eyes, her smirk fell into a disgusted grimace. "I don't think I could look past the sweat to look at his biceps."

Chuckling, the older snake bit into the head of the ginger newt. "He said that after telling me that I'm apparently 'well-shaped', well duh, and also perfect to bear his children." Dorrea gave a choking sound while Hannah bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"Ugh! Who says something like that?"

"People like him apparently. And also, I of course told him that I do not swing that way, but according to him I just haven't met someone like him yet." She scoffed and took another bite of her snack. "Dumb bladder.

"He thought he could change your preference?" The first year snake frowned and tilted her head to the side while giving a thoughtful look. It was no secret of Hannah's preferences when it came to relationships and the like among their group of companions, and no one really had an issue with it. Dorrea, after explanations from the older snake, gathered that one's preferences couldn't be changed; they just were.

Hannah's choppy black hair rustled as she nodded in an amused fashion. "Yes. And if you saw his attitude, you would laugh him to death. I swear, the whole trying-to-look-cool look he was going for was more like an I'm-way-too-cocky look. He just looked like a moron."

The young pureblood heiress tapped her fingers on the book on her lap in thought. "I wonder what gave him such confidence… You are sure you've never met him before?"

"Never." Hannah shook her head. "I would have remembered the sweatiness and the awkward voice," she stuffed a couple more ginger newt legs in her mouth, "he sounded like he was twelve."

Dorrea tisked in annoyance. "Are all guys this annoyingly self-confident? It seems all the ones I've met are." She counted off the names on her fingers. "Zack, Issac, Carrow, Kian…"

"Well, at least my twin is funny. The others I barely know." She propped her feet up on the small coffee table in-between them in front of the fireplace; Dorrea's eye twitched at the improper gesture, Hannah smirked. "The sweaty dude, no idea what his name is, and if he ever tells me I doubt I would remember it."

"Hm, I suppose- wait. He still didn't tell you his name?" Dorrea said incredulously, looking up from glaring at Hannah's feet.

Hannah gave a hum. "Nope. He just said I was smoking hot and perfect to get impregnated and that he had muscles."

The smaller girl gave a snort. "Geez." She rolled her eyes and looked back to the book on her lap, idly flipping to the next page. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Hmmm…" The taller, lean girl stretched her arms up and placed them behind her head in a casual manner. "My latest Gryff-fling may know him, I could ask her to tell him that I'm way out of his league and that he should stop trying… maybe that would help?" Her head tilted back and she stared at the ceiling. "I could ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist, but where is the fun in that?" The two snakes shared a small smirk. "I know I'm not gonna talk to him on my own initiative because he's really not with my time."

Dorrea gave a small hum, mildly interested in her scheming. "He doesn't seem like the type to give up even if you ignore him." She tilted her head to the side in thought. "What about asking Peeves to prank him?" The poltergeist was known to be persuaded to direct his pranking in a certain direction with the right manipulation.

"Nah, I don't trust Peeves. He's a loud mouth."

The younger snake nodded in agreement.

"It will have to be something more personal."

"Psychological?"

Hannah grinned and nodded. "Humiliating."

"Degrading." Dorrea chimed in with a glint of interest in her eye.

The older snake returned to her relaxed pose and gave a satisfied sort of grin. "I got some things up my sleeve that could work."

"I'll look forward to it." Dorrea crossed her legs into a more comfortable position, her gaze falling back onto the words on her book. "Well, hopefully this means he will bother you instead of me now." She grumbled under her breath about being used as an owl.

Hannah hummed in an amused tone.

The little snake's eye gave a twitch in annoyance. "Glad you find this so amusing." She replied in a cold voice.

"Glad you're glad!" Hannah gave a goading grin, enjoying messing with the younger Slytherin.

Dorrea scowled and gave a huff, she closed her book for the night. "I do hope he admits defeat and crawls back into his sweaty lion den."

"I hope drowns in it, after I'm done having fun of course." Hannah smirked.

"You and your toys." Dorrea rolled her eyes.

Hannah leaned forward from her position on the couch into the first year's space. "Awe, come on. Admit it, this is fun."

The younger girl's eyebrow raised, her head tilting to the side slightly. "I suppose." She gave a small smirk and nodded. "More fun than playing with house elves, they are much too obedient to get proper enjoyment out of manipulating."

Hannah gave a snort and a chuckle at the typical pureblooded-ness of her smaller friend. Yawning, she sat up and stretched her hands over her head in a cat-like manner. "Well, I'm gonna call it a night."

Dorrea gave a hum in acknowledgement and casually waved her hand in dismissal. "Good night." She said stiffly, picking up another book from the small table next to her.

The taller snake rolled her eyes and couldn't resist ruffling the younger girl's hair up as she passed by her chair. Hearing an indignant yelp behind her, Hannah's chuckle followed her up into her dormitory.

* * *

She was not amused.

Dorrea Jude, pureblood heiress to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Jude, was not an owl. Did she have feathers? Was she responsible for people's mail? No. Yet somehow, she found herself being the target of many who wished to spread gossip and messages around the school.

Currently the subject of her ire was none other than the sweaty, secret admirer of her older Slytherin companion, Hannah Sofie.

Holding her Transfiguration books in her arms, on her way to her next class after another boring History of Magic lesson, Dorrea tried not to let her supreme irritation show on her face; showing such obvious emotion wasn't very Slytherin-like now was it?

"Yes? Did you need something, upperclassman?" Her voice, although polite, held an icy sort of strain to it.

Standing in her pathway in an arrogant fashion, the large fifth year Gryffindor cleared his throat to begin talking. "I noticed you delivered my letter successfully, so I need you to deliver another message." He crossed his overly muscular arms with a pompous look on his sweaty face.

The little snake's eyes flashed in irritation. Who did he think he was to ask her of all people to do servants work? Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth, Dorrea attempted to respond civilly. "And why can't you use your own owl, upperclassman?"

Mixing a frown and a pout together the boy furrowed his eyebrows. "My parents won't let me use the family owl anymore because I was ordering… stuff, from Diagon Alley." His eyes diverted and he cleared his throat again. Dorrea raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Anyways, the Slytherin prefect, Nott, I think his name was, told me that the best way to relay a message to my beloved is through you." His eyes roamed over her short form. "I'm not sure why, you don't seem like anything special."

Her hand twitched for her wand and her shoulders stiffened. Forget manners, this boy needed to be taught his place. "I am the heiress to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Jude, although you are a year above me, upperclassman, I think a little respect isn't too much to ask." She gave him a haughty look, seeming to stare down her nose at him even though he was much taller. Taking a deep breath she continued. "As for why I seem to be the best way to contact Hannah, I am one of her companions and tend to know where she likes to go and such-"

"Great! Can you tell me what she likes? Her favorite places to go? What she likes to eat?-" The boy continued to ramble on.

_Does he have some sort of mental deficiency?_ Dorrea seriously wondered to herself. She pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. Holding up a hand to silence him, the little heiress gave him a stern look. "Look. I really don't think she is interested in pursuing a relationship with you, I would recommend ceasing your courtship with Hann-"

"Oh, I know." He gave a smug look.

Dorrea started, then closed her mouth. "You do?" She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Then why are you-"

"I know she doesn't like me, _yet_. But she will." The Gryffindor Beater looked down at his arms with a self-admiring gaze.

_Yep. Defiantly mentally deficient. _Sighing heavily, Dorrea prepared to lecture him about his incompetence when the Hogwarts bells chimed, signaling for the next class period to begin. Rearranging the books in her arms to a more comfortable position, she began to move sideways to move around the taller boy. "Right, well, I have to get to class-"

"I gotta wrap this up shorty, talk to me later about setting me up with Hannah, alright? See ya!" The sweaty lion strutted down the corridor past the gob smacked snake. Snarling under her breath in frustration, the heiress grit her teeth and picked up her pace to get to her Transfiguration class on time.

They were going to have to do something about this.

* * *

**A/N: Is there a possible date in the future I see? An appearance by our favorite Gyriffindor? What will Hannah do? Will Jude ever shake off the title of "Hannah's Personal Owl"? Find out next time!**


	25. Chapter 4: THE SWEATY DEAL

**A/N: Wonderful RP with my two favorite people yesterday! Inspiration!**

* * *

Chapter 4: THE SWEATY DEAL

After Dorrea's run in with the sweaty secret admirer in the morning, she joined her fellow snake in walking towards the Great Hall for some lunch.

"And that is why Gaunt's Theory of the inability of creating love can be disproved! Now, Professor Mae just wouldn't see things my way, and I can't understand how she would overlook the properties of-" As the first year Slytherin continued to ramble on, they were suddenly halted mid-step by the glisten of sweat radiating from one Gryffindor's forehead.

"Hey, hot stuff! Fancy seeing you here!" The muscular boy wiped some of the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and gave the taller snake a sly grin.

"Ugh. It's you…" Hannah's shoulders slumped fractionally as she gave the boy a distasteful look.

Dorrea gave a grimace. "Twice in one day? Wonderful." She grumbled under her breath.

"Twice?" Hannah's curious eyebrow rose.

"Unfortunately."

The Gryffindor boy cleared his throat. "Care to join me at the Gryffindor table?" He gestured with his hand in the direction of the Great Hall, obviously flexing his overly large muscles in the process.

"I'd rather eat off the floor." Hannah deadpanned.

Stumbling a bit at her bluntness, the boy pressed onward. "We could do a picnic if you prefer sitting on the ground?"

With an eye roll, the older Slytherin gave a huff. "No. I'm not interested in sharing a meal with you, got it?"

"How about a drink? I think I could guess something you'd like." He puffed out his chest in confidence.

"Were you dropped on your head as an infant or something? No!"

"Not one for drinks then? Understandable, alcohol is for manly men such as myself after all." He gave a hearty chuckle, placing his hands on his hips to make himself appear larger.

An annoyed huff came from the smaller, green eyed girl. "Look," her eyes narrowed at the boy, "I told you that you should cease your attempt at courting her-"

"Yes, yes. Run along now shorty, the adults are speaking." He shooed her away with his hands, turning back to Hannah and rolling his eyes. "Kids, am I right?"

Dorrea's eyes flashed, her magic sparking around her. "What did you just call me?" Her voice was chilly and quiet, she pulled her wand from her robe pocket.

Hannah narrowed her eyes. "I'm the only one who gets to call her that. Got it?" The older snake, like Dorrea, had grown up as an only child and liked to think of her friends as the siblings she never had. Zack as her twin, Jude as her annoying little sister, and so on.

Frowning in a confused and annoyed manner, the boy continued. "She's just a kid. No need to get so defensive." He ran a hand through his short hair. "Now, as I was saying-"

"A child, am I?" Dorrea's teeth gnashed together furiously. "I'll show you what a child is capable of." She raised her wand, a curse on the tip of her tongue.

"Jude," Hannah hissed. "Don't. He's not worth it."

Glancing at her older companion from the corner of her eyes, the smaller snake began to lower her wand.

A smug chuckle came from the sweaty boy. "I'd listen to your betters, shorty. Quit while you're ahead and save yourself the embarrassment."

Green eyes widened at the comment. "_Epulor Ligurio_*!" The younger snake yelled, throwing a yellow curse at the boy's face.

The Gryffindor flew backwards a couple of feet, writhing on the ground and making choking noises as he frantically grasped at his throat.

Hannah ran her hand over her face and groaned. "Seriously? That is going to bite us in the ass."

Dorrea gave a sneer at the boy on the floor. "He needed to learn how to hold his tongue."

Ruffling her short chopped hair in mild irritation, Hannah cursed as she watched the boy grab wildly at his throat and drool dribble out of his mouth. "Dragon balls… still a stupid thing to do."

The little heiress gave a pout. "Oh please, don't tell me you don't find this amusing."

Hannah replied with a smirk. "Of course I find it amusing, but using a spell like that here is not smart."

"Well," Dorrea gave a sigh. "It's not like anyone is around-" She stopped as she heard voices coming towards them from further down the corridor.

As the boy on the floor struggled on the floor, groaning loudly to try and alert someone, Hannah let out a few Norwegian swear-words. "Shut-up you baboon!"

The little snake's eyes darted back to the sweaty boy on the floor. "_Finite Incantatem_." Releasing the curse, her eyes returned to watching the corridor behind them nervously.

Gasping loudly, panting and sweating on the floor, the boy propped himself up on his shaky arms. "Y-you, th-that was a-a d-dark c-curse."

With a raised eyebrow, Hannah pointed at their Slytherin crests. "Uh, duh!"

While it was known that Slytherins were favorable to dabbling in the Dark Arts, most kept their preferences hidden from the general populace due to its negative reputation and frequent targeting of Magical prohibitions. It was assumed that most of the Ancient and Noble houses, the Sacred 28 Pureblood families, actively taught and practiced forms of dark arts.

An heiress to one of the Sacred 28, the family of Jude, sneered at the boy. "Still think I am a child?"

Hearing the voices down the corridor get closer, he shakily stood up from the ground. "I-I'll tell the h-headmaster about th-this." He panted and gave a grin. "You'll be ex-expelled for s-sure."

"And who would believe you?" Dorrea gulped and gave a slightly nervous chuckle.

Hannah chimed in, narrowing her eyes. "If you think that spell was bad, you're naïve as you are dumb." Her grey-ish eyes took on a malicious tint. "I know things that would make your ancestors run further back to the past. Quit while you can."

Wiping a streak of sweat from his forehead, the boy licked his lips nervously. "She still has traces of dark magic on her wand, I could get her expelled right now."

"And I can still be around to destroy your life."

"Maybe so, but," he paused as the voices got closer. "She will still be expelled." He leaned against the wall behind in for support, crossing his shaking arms across his chest.

"And your life will slowly crumble and collapse. You will look over your shoulders, lose your mind, and you will never see me coming." The older snake's aura turned dark.

Pupils dilated, either in fear or in excitement, the boy's face flushed at the thought of Hannah stalking him. "I wouldn't mind that." He leered perversely, grinning.

"I can assure you," she growled. "It won't be nice."

"Look," Dorrea narrowed her eyes at the boy and looked nervously over her shoulder. "Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement?" Her gaze flickered back and forth between the voices in the corridor behind them and the boy.

Licking his lip nervously, he wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. Locking eyes with Hannah, he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. "Well, if you're sure you want to get your friend expelled." Walking past the two snakes, ready to turn them over to the group of voices coming towards them, the boy paused and looked back at them from over his shoulder. "Unless…"

Hannah's eye narrowed. "Out with it."

Quickly turning around on the spot, almost stumbling, he blurted out. "One date." He cleared his sore throat and held up one finger.

Dorrea growled as Hannah gave an 'ew' sound.

"One, just one. And you will save your friend from expulsion." He gave the older snake an unusually serious stare.

Mumbling and grumbling in Norwegian, Hannah took a contemplative stance. After a bit of debating with herself, she switched back to English. "Fine, but this will be on my terms."

Dorrea gave her friend a stunned look.

The boy nodded gleefully.

"One!" She held up a finger. "This will be the only one. No more dates after this. You don't get to nag." She held up another finger. "Two! You will pay for everything." She raised another finger. "Three! You don't get to brag about this. If you do, I'll make sure you disappear. And I _will_ get away with it, I assure you."

The boy gulped.

"And finally," she turned to Jude. "You, my short friend," Dorrea gave a glare at the comment. "You have to come too. You can bring someone if you want, but _you_ started this mess and _you_ have to keep us company. I hope you're happy Judes."

The little snake sputtered indignantly. "What?! Why do I have to get dragged into this!"

"Well, I could say no and get you expelled." Hannah raised a challenging eyebrow.

Dorrea grumbled. "Fine…"

Narrowing her eyes at the boy, daring him to challenge her terms, she continued. "Deal?"

The boy's eyes glittered with joy. "A double-date it is then? Sounds fine with me!" He lunged forward and grasped both of Hannah's hands in his large sweaty ones, Dorrea grimace at the squishy noise of his hands. "You won't regret this!" He gave a huge, confident smile.

Hannah's hands squirmed and she felt a repulsed shiver crawl up her spine. "Well then," she managed to wrench her hands free. "Off you go then. Bye."

"This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend, I'll pick you up at around 10 or so in the morning in front of the Great Hall entrance." Running a hand through his hair, he then waved and sprinted past the oncoming group of people walking down the corridor.

"Uggghhhh." Hannah held her hands out in front of her like they had the plague.

Quickly pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket, Dorrea handed it to the older snake. "Here, disinfect yourself."

"Gladly." She furiously wiped her hands with the lacey piece of cloth as they continued on their way to the Great Hall for their lunch.

Sitting down at the table full of green and black emblems and robes, the messy haired Slytherin piled a random assortment of food on her plate and began to dig in.

Dorrea took her place next to the girl, ignoring the annoyed looks from the upperclassmen Slytherins – although she was a first year, and should sit with the other first years, she often sat with Hannah anyway. She sighed at Hannah's strange combination of food choices while placing a few finger sandwiches and fruit on her own plate. Spearing a grape with her fork, she paused.

"Hannah?" Dorrea turned to face the older girl. "How am I going to go to Hogsmeade?" She wondered in a low voice. She was only a first year and only third years and older could leave the castle.

Shrugging, Hannah took a sip of her coffee. "We'll figure it out."

The heiress gave her an unimpressed look. "Very well then." She picked up her fork with the grape on it and lifted it to her mouth, only to pause again.

"Hannah?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you." Dorrea rolled her eyes. "Did you catch his name?" She frowned and tilted her head to the side in thought. "I don't think he told us."

Hannah frowned in thought. "Uhh, no. He didn't tell us."

Dorrea have an amused snort.

"What an imbecile."

* * *

**A/N: Next up is the dreaded date. Bum, bum, BUMMMMM!**


End file.
